Umi No Haoshoku
by th4n
Summary: Left for dead by his village, Uzumaki Naruto, fifteen years later returns in the Elemental Nations as the Conqueror of the Seas. Naruto x Harem / Rated M for Violence and Language.
1. The Man from the Sea

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know, English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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Detailed summary : For the first six years of his young life, Naruto lived a very difficult childhood in the village of Konohagakure. Hated and ostracized for reasons unknown to him, the boy still tried his best in order to survive, clinging to the hope of a better future and the very few people who did not seem to hate him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage or simply 'Jiji' for Naruto, is one of those people. Forced to leave the village for a visit to Kirigakure on a diplomatic meeting, the old shinobi leader feared for his surrogate grandson's life and decided to bring him along with him.

It was supposedly to protect the boy's life, as well as a good way to distract him, since he had never left the vicinity of the village. However, something happened during their journey on the boat that was leading them to Kiri. Taking advantage of the lack of security, some unknown characters attacked the boy and left him for dead by tossing his body into the sea.

This story takes place fifteen years after these events, as the memory of Uzumaki Naruto had long been forgotten by almost everyone and Konoha is once again on the verge of war, against a coalition of Oto, Iwa and Kumogakure no less. Their only hope now is to find new allies but who would help them ?

Pairing : Naruto x Harem

Members for the harem have already been chosen and will be announced in a later chapter. Therefore, I don't need suggestions, thanks.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

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**Chapter 1 : The Man from the Sea**

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**Forest between Wave Country and Konohagakure**

A group of four individuals were currently jumping from tree to tree, at a relatively high speed on the road between Fire and Wave Countries. It had already been three days ever since their mission had started and they were quite close to their destination now.

Anko cursed silently in her head as she looked around and then at her teammates for this mission. The Council in its infinite wisdom, had deemed that a spying mission in Kiri was necessary, in order to make sure of their intentions in the upcoming war between the Leaf and its enemies.

This was undoubtedly an S-Ranked mission, since they were infiltrating the Bloody Mist and had for only orders to see but not be seen. This should have been a jonin and higher level only mission, however, strangely enough Anko was the only jonin in her team. She had been assigned with a team of three freshly promoted chunin, the former Team Nine.

Even so this still could have worked, since they were all trained by Gai, Konoha's taijutsu specialist, there was no doubt about their skills as shinobi. No, there was something else that was bugging Anko. What really made her blood boil was the reason behind this team selection, they were all expendable, her included.

Anko knew the village never really "forgave" her for her former master's betrayal. Orochimaru of the Sannin left them more than twenty years ago but it still affected her, just as his damn cursed seal. The mark was still there, just to remind her that she too was one of those he experimented on.

Next were her team members, Team Nine. Contrary to all the other teams of rookies that recently graduated from genin level, none of them were children of council members or heir and heiress of a noble clan of Konoha. Lee and Tenten were orphans while Neji was a member of the branch side of the Hyuga Clan. With the exception of Anko, the village was not willing to lose any more jonin than needed and sent out a team of expendable chunin with the Snake Mistress.

Anko tried to remember how things turned out this way, the current state of the village or the War. Thinking about it, she knew everything changed after the disappearance of Uzumaki Naruto, fifteen years ago. Everybody knew he was dead but since there was no body he was only declared MIA.

The Sandaime changed after that, seeing the villagers cheer for the death of the little boy was too much for him and after five years, he simply decided to step down from his position again and this time for good, since he left the village the very next day after announcing his retirement.

Hiruzen left three possible candidate's names for his successor, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kakashi but to everyone's surprised, none of them seemed really enthusiastic to take the job and Shimura Danzo, an older shinobi from the same generation as Hiruzen was chosen as the next Hokage.

It was from that point on, and for the last ten years, that the situation worsened between the Leaf and the external world. If Hiruzen was a peaceful and gentle type of leader, Danzo was quite the opposite. The man only believed in strength and deemed emotions as utterly useless. As such, and with the cooperation of the Council, Konoha was militarized to the extreme. Firstly with the mandatory conscription of every children in the ninja academy program and then every resources or budgets were devoted to the improvement of his army.

This of course could not remain unseen for too long from the other villages and soon the diplomatic relationships with them became tensed. Iwa and Kumo never really had great relations with Konoha and Kiri was still in the middle of a civil war. How Suna still remained an ally is a mystery but they did. One man though, took advantage of the situation, Orochimaru. He used the distrust generated by Konoha to rally a coalition of Oto, his own village, Kumo and Iwa in order to destroy the Leaf.

This is how the Elemental Nations were now on the brink of witnessing the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Even though Oto, Orochimaru's newly built village, was still a mystery and Kiri was off the grid, it was basically four of the Great Five Villages in a two versus two confrontation with a slight advantage for Orochimaru's side.

Anko was pulled out of her thoughts by the sudden change in the scenery, with the appearance of the sea. They were finally in Wave Country and the tough part of their mission was about to start. From there on, their team needed to board a ship and make their way to Water Country in order to investigate how Kiri would position themselves in the war.

There was no doubt in Danzo's mind that Kiri would one way or the other participate in the war, his paranoiac mind needed to know to whom their allegiance went to. If they were on his side they needed to formalize an alliance's treaty as soon as possible, otherwise they needed to be destroyed. For this recon mission, Anko's team couldn't afford to be recognized as ninja hailing from Konoha, so they all disguised themselves as civilians before entering the small town that was near the sea.

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**Wave Village**

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Anko and the disguised Team Nine entered the small village near the coast in order to find a boat for Water Country. She couldn't believe the convincing and time it took, in order to have Lee change from his green bodysuit. The young man would not wear anything else and Anko could not really blame him for his obsession, since she too had a thing for provocative clothes but, a mission is a mission, even more so with the fate of their village at stake.

The first thing they noticed upon entering that small town was how beautiful and lively it seemed to be. Shops were flourishing with goods from the highest quality, as Tenten could attest from the way she looked at the weapons displayed in the armory. The design from the sword she was currently holding in her hands was quite impressive and something she never saw. It was a very long sword, most likely to be held using two hands judging by its weight. Seeing no forge in the neighborhood, she was curious as to where this kind of sword came from.

"Excuse me sir, I've never seen this type of sword before. Where did it come from ?" Tenten asked the salesman.

"Hmm this one came from one of the merchant ship that stops here once a month. How about it, I got it for a good price and I would be delighted to sell it to you miss ?" The man replied.

"Thanks but it's far too heavy for me, I was just looking around." Tenten said before leaving the shop. The others also went to look around, they had to meet with Anko at the docks in twenty minutes.

Lee and Neji also experienced the same thing as Tenten, as they went to buy food for their trip they were presented with very diverse and nice products. There were fruits and spice they never encountered before and upon asking where they came from, it was always the same question, from the sea. Another thing that surprised them was the pricing, everything was so cheap in comparison to what they were used to pay for in Konoha. With the war and the deterioration of the relationship with the other countries, the living conditions in the Leaf had been quite hard lately.

When the team went to the docks for their meeting with Anko, they were only half surprised to see the purple haired jonin holding with her some exotic looking bottles of Sake. She most likely had the time to visit as well and spend some money on the products that were displayed in the shops.

"Alright, I found a ship for Water Country, here are your tickets. It leaves in the morning so we'll be sleeping here tonight. Let's go find rooms at a local inn for the night." Anko said as she left in the direction of the town.

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**Tsunami's Inn**

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They chose an inn that was close enough from the docks but not too close from the town center, in order to remain as discrete as possible. Upon entering the inn, they were greeted by a woman named Tsunami. There were also other tourists than them but not as much as in the other inns. They took two rooms with Lee and Neji sharing one while Anko and Tenten took the other one. It was almost time for dinner so they were invited to join Tsunami in the dinning room downstairs.

"Tsunami-san, I couldn't help but notice the state of your lovely town. I always thought this part of the Elemental Nations to be very poor but from what I've seen since we came here, it's far from the truth so I was wondering if you could tell me more about it." Tenten asked Tsunami.

"Well, this town has not always been like this. Going backward one year ago, we were still like what you originally thought we were, a very poor town with no business nor any touristic activities. There was also this man, Gato, who was employing bandits and had been stealing all of our money and business for years. No one dared to oppose him, I even lost my husband because of him." Tsunami started to say but she had to take a break at this point since it was quite a bad memory for her.

"This all changed on that one day though, out of nowhere, a large ship in very bad shape boarded our docks for repairs and supplies. Judging by their clothes and appearance, they all looked like foreigners and some of them even spoke a weird language between themselves.

Their leader was a man whose name I still don't know to this day since he didn't say it, he also wore a mask so even if he was famous or something, there was no way for us to know. He was the one who spoke to my father, this town's mayor. They apparently came here straight from after a battle on the seas and had no way to pay us for the supplies they were asking for. He promised that in exchange for our help he would come back later and pay us for ten times the amount of what he was asking us for. We have a tradition here to always help those who need our help, so even without the promise we would have helped them to the best of our abilities. They left three days after their arrival, with the little we could afford to spare them from our own limited supplies." Tsunami continued but was interrupted at this point by Anko.

"Didn't they wear anything that could identify them as shinobi from a village, like a headband or some mark on their clothes ?" She asked, wanting to know more about those mysterious travelers.

Tsunami thought about it for a second and then simply shook her head before she moved on with her story.

"By the end of the same week, when Gato came in town in order to take his cut from all of our sales and benefits, he saw that a part of our stock was missing and that no payment had been done for them. When we told him what we did for the foreigners that came earlier, he first laughed at us, saying how stupid we were to have trusted some unknown foreigners. Then, to set an example, he decided to punish us by executing the one who was in charge at the time, my father. Everyone was so scared of him that no one dared to oppose him, I was too scared for my son that I had to look him take away my father." Tsunami took another break, her fear of losing Inari, her son, was still fresh in her mind.

"We were all assembled in front of the town hall to witness the execution with no exception, child, men and women of all age were to see what happens to those who defy Gato. One of his men was about to cut my father's head off when it happened. I couldn't bare to see him kill my father and closed my eyes for only one second. When I reopened my eyes it was all over, however, instead of my father, it was Gato and all of his men that were dead. I don't know when, how or what he did but the man who came by earlier with his ship was back. His companions were back too, they took out all the mercenaries that Gato employed while their leader was dealing with him." Tsunami stopped again, but this time she smiled.

"From that point on, our village slowly but surely became what you see of it today. The man came back and as promised, he brought back with him at least ten times the amount of what he borrowed from us. He introduced us to many people as business partners and a ship like his has been coming here every month with new products and merchants for us to trade with. My father is currently on board of one of those ships with my son in order to visit another town like ours and open new trade relationships for our village." Tsunami said as she finished her tale, still smiling.

The Konoha nins and the tourists that were also listening to Tsunami were deeply surprised by the story of this town. Anko couldn't help but think that it was all too good to be true but according to Tsunami, the mysterious man didn't even ask for a cut of the profits generated by his intervention. The variety and abundance of the goods he brought here showed that those ships traveled quite a bit. Anko was in no way an expert in trades but, from what she could see, the Sake she bought came from at least three distinct parts of the Elemental Nations that were on the opposite side of the continent.

It was getting late and they had to leave the town early in the morning so Anko decided to call it a night and sent her team to their rooms. She doubted that they would come across that unknown masked character but left it in a corner of her mind, for better or for worse, this man was definitely someone her superiors would like to meet.

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**On the Boat for Water Country**

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Team Anko left Wave Village early on the next morning as scheduled. They took a boat for Water Country in order to infiltrate and assess Kirigakure's situation and their intentions about the War. They were on a touristic boat, with lots of civilians and only a few ninja to defend the ship. Judging by their clothes and headband, they were from Kiri, chunin level at best but Anko knew better than to underestimate strangers, so she ordered her team to remain as discrete as possible and to not draw attention to themselves.

The trip would take at least three days at their current speed and the Snake Mistress was already bored out of her mind. She decided to enjoy some of the Sake she bought in Wave while the rest of her team was simply resting in their cabins to avoid making unnecessary contact with the ninja that were guarding the ship. The only distraction so far was to see the ever hyperactive Rock Lee being sea sick and even that quickly became boring to watch as well.

On the second day of their trip, the ship suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. Curious as to why it stopped, Anko and her team, minus Lee, decided to go check the situation on deck. As they arrived, they saw chaos and people running around. Flanking their ship was another ship with a pirate flag. Their men were already boarding the ship and had neutralized the shinobi that were responsible for the crew's safety.

Anko cursed as she knew they couldn't use their shinobi skills, they were way to close to Kiri to reveal themselves as ninja right now. The Kiri nins that were supposed to watch the ship were now useless but still conscious and there was no way they wouldn't notice Anko and her team taking out the pirates.

She knew they had no choice but to let it play as if they were mere civilians, at the mercy of these pirates. Those scums were usually only interested in stealing the ship's gold and cargo so if they were lucky, they would just lose some money and a bit of their pride but that would be it and they would be able to resume their mission.

True to her prediction, the pirates went to steal the ship's cargo as soon as they assembled all the passengers on the deck and restrained them. However, Anko gritted her teeth when one of the pirate saw a beautiful young woman among the passengers and tried to take her with him. This was also among the things that happened during those pirate's attack, they also kidnapped young women. Anko and her team had used **Henge**, in order to hide their true face, so both her and Tenten looked average to untrained eyes but this young civilian woman was not that lucky.

The man was about to bring the unfortunate girl with him on the pirate ship when a violent gust of wind shook both ships. Pirates, shinobi and civilians alike had to close or shield their eyes until the wind died down.

When everyone reopened their eyes, they were greeted by the appearance of two new women on the civilian ship. One was sitting on top of the mast while the second one was standing near the edge of the ship's bow. Both women wore matching clothes, a tight black leather top, a black miniskirt with stockings and finally over their shoulders, a gray Haori with a black fox printed on it.

"Oh it seems we didn't get all the passengers, we forgot those two lovely ladies. Go get them ! They will make a fine addition to my collection." The pirate's captain yelled at his men who were more than happy to follow their orders. They were making their way to the two women when the one on top of the mast spoke.

"How rude of you, only one man has the right to touch me." She said as she lifted one hand towards the pirate ship. The wind then immediately picked up again and tore its sail to shreds, effectively immobilizing it.

"You speak too much, **Sanban Tai Taicho**, you came here on your own again without waiting for our **Senchou** and the others." The second woman said as she unsheathed her katana, and, with a swing so fast for anyone to follow her movement, she sheathed her blade back. A mere second later, a loud cracking noise was heard over the pirate ship as it was suddenly split into two parts, with a clean cut right in the middle of it.

"Arara, it seems you're in a bad mood today **Ichiban Tai Taicho**, you want some Sake to calm your nerves ?" The one on the mast replied while gulping down a Sake bottle she took out of nowhere.

The pirate's captain and his men who were still on the civilian ship were furious and about to charge at the two mysterious women when something they couldn't understand happened to them.

"What did you do to me ? I can't move my body." The man said as he was stopped in a running position.

"Hmm, it seems our **Senchou** and the others have arrived. I guess the fun part is over, well for me anyway." The one on the mast said before she jumped down and went to stand beside her partner.

Just as she went down, from out of nowhere and without making a single sound, came out a giant ship. It was easily four times bigger than the civilian or pirate ship. On its deck, Anko saw two more women who once again wore matching clothes, different from the first two who were already on the civilian ship with them though. There was also the man who seemed to match Tsunami's description of the savior from their village.

The two women on board the bigger ship wore a black two-piece suit with several pieces of plate armor as shin-high, slightly heeled metal boots, large wrist-guards, shoulder pieces and a partial skirt. Finally, they also had a short black cape. One part of their equipment immediately caught Tenten's eyes, the very large swords they both had on their back. Contrary to the more traditional katana the first two were wielding those looked like the sword she saw at the weapons shop in the Village back in Wave Country.

"Well well, what do we have here ?" The man said as he gazed around the ship's deck. The only features that could be seen were his blond hair and deep blue eyes that seemed vaguely similar to someone Anko already met in the past but could not remember who or when.

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**A/N : **That's it for now. Give me first impressions, this is important as I start this new story.

Anyway, some explaining as to the plot itself. I decided to go for the AU route since my first story was really close to canon and I often received criticism about that. I always enjoyed reading stories where Naruto would leave, be exiled or banished only to come back later, stronger than ever. This is my first attempt at something like this.

Now, as to the new location of Naruto in the Elemental Nations, I've read countless stories of him going to another village among the other Great Four or even Uzushiogakure and wanted to do something slightly different, I won't spoil how different this will be but that's the basic behind this new story, besides those who can understand the Japanese title will know ...

Another matter is the pairing, I've been continuously harassed by my readers to do a harem for the other story and I didn't have the confidence at the time. Now though, as I wrote at the beginning this will be a harem setting for Naruto and I won't really bother with side pairings that don't involve him. For now I've locked six to seven women for him but be warned that most of them aren't from the Naruto verse. They aren't real OC per say, once again no spoilers there but I hope you'll like them. You may try to guess who the girls are, those four traveling with him are in the harem.

Finally, I won't update this again until Kaze no Kami is properly concluded, which shouldn't take too long, considering that it is about two chapters from its end. Anyway this is exciting, the beginning of a new adventure and I hope it will be as successful as the first one. Hopefully I've grown a bit as an author since the first chapters of Kaze no Kami.

My usual parting words, please Read and Review, your opinion matters to me :)


	2. Unscheduled Stop

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know, English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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I'm impressed, first chapter had great responses from most of the feedback I have for it so far. There are some of my regular readers, from the Kaze no Kami story, that don't really enjoy the change of style between that story and this one and I can't really blame them. Nevertheless, they still left nice reviews without flaming and I thank them for that.

Now, as promised and since my first project is finally over, this is the official beginning of this new adventure. You can expect at least one chapter release each week, most likely during the weekend. Each chapter will size from 3000 to 5000 words, I like to keep them this size, it's usually enough to convey what needs to be said without being too long or too short.

I hope I already gave accurate answers to those who asked questions that could be answered without revealing too much of the plot, I also edited part of the first chapter to remove some inconsistencies about the timeline, nothing too heavy though. One word of warning, some characters throughout the story may seem OOC, this follows the same pattern as the alternative universe theme. Rest assured that even if I use some characters from other manga universe, the story is still set in the shinobi age.

Finally, the first two women from Naruto's crew (and harem) who boarded the ship are indeed Miya and Kazehana from the **Sekirei** universe. Congratulations to those who guessed correctly, it wasn't that easy since I just made them speak one or two sentences and only gave out their outfits and not their physical appearances. The other two who came in later with him have yet to be identified, all I can say is that they **don't** come from the **Sekirei** verse.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

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**Chapter 2 : Unscheduled Stop**

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**Water Country - 200 miles away from the Main Island**

Mizu no Kuni is a nation exclusively composed by a small number of islands. Their hidden village, Kirigakure also known as the Bloody Mist, is located on the main and biggest island. Until recently, Kiri was still in a civil war that started years ago. The two sides fighting in this war were the rebels, wielders of **Kekkei** **Genkai** and their mortal enemies, the loyalists, who followed the previous Kage in his quest to purge the world from the bloodline holders. The rebels were thought to be losing this war, since no other major village was willing to support them, however, they miraculously prevailed and a new Mizukage was elected.

Kiri is still recovering from years of war and privations. The living conditions, under the rule of the previous leader, had been quite difficult. Being a nation surrounded by the seas, Kirigakure does of course possess a powerful naval fleet. Nevertheless, the ocean is a vast place to look after and they had no way to protect every part of their coasts. This was a benediction for the pirates as they took advantage of Kiri's lack of presence to raid every ship they could. In its current fragile state, the best Kiri could afford was to dispatch some chunin on each ship to ensure the safety of the crew against those pirates. However, against heavily armed ships, there was little they could do.

This led Konoha's spying mission into the situation at hand, with a pirate ship assaulting the civilian ship transporting them from Wave Country to Kiri, as they were not even 200 miles away from the main island's coasts. Anko and her team were ready to forsake the people on the ship for the success of their mission, that's the reason why they didn't lift a finger when those men were about to kidnap a young woman from the ship. They had specific orders to not reveal their presence as Leaf ninja and they intended on following those orders, the fate of Konoha was at stake.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it all depends on one's perspective, the raid came to an end when two mysterious women boarded the ship. They came out of nowhere, right in the middle of the ocean, with no apparent ship of their own and prevented the pirates from committing their crime. The first one tore the pirate's ship sail to shreds, using a strange wind jutsu. The second one literally split the ship in two parts, with a quick swing of her katana. The situation was about to spiral out of control, when the pirates saw their ship getting destroyed by those two women, before a new ship appeared right next to theirs, again out of thin air.

On the deck of that new ship, appeared three people. Another pair of women in armored clothes and a man wearing a face mask that fit Tsunami's descriptions for their savior, gazed at the destroyed ship and the civilian one when the Captain spoke.

He wore a white jacket with a high collar, a white **Hakama** with a black sash and white **Zori** with black **Tabi** socks. He didn't seem to carry any weapon.

"Kazehana, you went off on your own again, a good thing that Miya is always keeping tabs on you. Now, I can already see the results of your fine work against that ship, but can you both tell me how and why this came to be ?" The man said to the two women of his crew on the civilian ship. Before any of them could answer him, the remaining pirates that weren't on their ship that Miya just sunk interfered.

"So you're the captain of that ship, that's just perfect. Those two bitches of yours just destroyed my ship, with our entire loot along with it. We will take your ship instead, it looks good enough for me and my men. We'll take the women too, and those two behind you as well, as a compensation." The man said with a perverted look in his eyes.

Naruto shrugged and then turned to his two remaining crew members as he gave them a nod. The one on his left sighed and then closed her silver eyes before turning her head toward the civilian ship.

"The one who just spoke to us, the two men behind him and three more men in the ship's hold. All of them are barely chunin level, they must have used hostages or something like this to take over this ship." She said, opening her silver eyes again.

Anko and her team were stunned, that woman just singled out every pirate that boarded the ship, even those who were hiding in the hold. However, Anko saw that she was also looking at her and her team, as if she knew they were also shinobi but chose to remain silent about it, for now at least.

The second woman silently took out her large sword from her back and instantly disappeared. Only a second had passed when she reappeared on board the civilian ship. However, instead of attacking one pirate after the other, it was three **Bunshin** of hers that showed up, killing off every targets at the same time, and, from the shouting that could be heard from the hold, it seemed she had been there as well. Once done, she instantly moved back to her Captain's side on their ship.

"_What was that ? **Bunshin no Jutsu** ? No, those illusions dealt real damages to their targets but they instantly disappeared, it didn't felt like the **Kage Bunshin** nor any other elemental clones either. Could it be ? Pure speed ?"_ Neji analyzed in his mind.

Tenten for her part was fascinated by the woman's skills with her broad sword. From her memories of holding that weapon in Wave, it felt far too heavy, even for a kunoichi like her, to be held with only one hand. That woman must be quite strong and from her form she was also extremely skilled in the kenjutsu arts. She also took notice of something else though, just as the first two women had a black fox on the back of their gray **Haori**, the sword this woman was wielding also had a black fox carved in its blade.

Contrary to Anko, none of the Leaf chunin saw the first woman, who acted like a sensor, looking at them and analyzing their reaction to her comrade's actions. Anko knew for sure they had been found out when the woman smiled at her and then turned to her captain, whispering something only they could hear. Naruto's face was still hidden to them, for if they could see under his mask, they would have seen him smirk like he had just hit the jackpot.

Naruto tried to adopt a neutral tone and then spoke to the remaining people that had been assembled on the deck of the ship.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry for our late arrival. We have been tasked by Kirigakure to patrol this part of the sea in order to protect ships like yours from pirates. Well, in our defense, they aren't paying us that well, and the ocean is quite a large place as well. Please allow us to escort you safely to your original destination, it shouldn't take more than a day from here to reach the main island." Naruto said.

"Not at all, your help is most generous and we gladly accept your proposal. If I may ask, are you the one they call the **Kuro no Kitsune** ?" The captain of the civilian ship, a retired former Kiri chunin, asked Naruto.

"Pff ..." The one they called Kazehana couldn't hold her laugh back as she heard the moniker. Naruto maintained a smiling and friendly stature while tick marks appeared on his forehead when he saw her laughing at him. Even the other three, who appeared to be much more discrete, couldn't hide the small movements of their lips that went into a smiling motion.

"Ha ha, I don't really know why they did, however, I am indeed the one your people call like this." Naruto replied while scratching the back of his head. As soon as he confessed being the one called the Black Fox, the people on board the ship started to gossip among themselves, all Anko and her team could hear was 'Hero of the War' and 'Slayer of the Beast'.

"Alright then, with you at our side, even a entire fleet of those scums wouldn't be able to scare us. This ship will be ready to set sail again in about one hour, the time for my men to return to their station and verify that everything is working as it should." The man said as he turned back.

"Ah Captain, if I may, my ship is currently short handed since I left some of my crew members on another ship. Would it be possible for you to spare us a small group of people, they don't need to know anything about sailing, it's really just looking after one or two things while me and the girls are busy with the rest of the technical stuff. Any civilian will do, them for example ..." Naruto said while pointing at the Konoha team with a tone in his voice and a spike of chakra that clearly left them the message, _Come with us quietly or we will reveal you and your team to those Kiri shinobi_.

"Sure we will go, I always wanted to visit the ship of the famous **Kuro no Kitsune**. However, we always travel with our entire family, my little brother is sick in his cabin, would it be alright to bring him along with us on your ship as well ?" Anko immediately said, not letting the captain of her ship say a word before her.

"Sure, bring him along with you. Miya here, is quite a skilled medic so perhaps she could help with whatever is wrong with him." Naruto replied as he turned back to his ship, instantly followed by his four crew mates.

* * *

**On Naruto's Ship**

* * *

"Welcome on board the Yamato." Naruto said as his guests were coming inside his ship.

Lee was brought on board Naruto's ship while the other ship did its maintenance checking. Anko and her team still refrained from doing anything suspicious until they were sure the other ship was out of hearing range. For the time being they just stayed focus on the people in front of them, the memories of their skills still fresh in their minds.

Naruto had disappeared inside his ship with the two women he came with, while the other two were staying on the deck with the members of team Anko. Kazehana took out another bottle of Sake and started to drink on her own. Miya had to shake her head at her behavior but said nothing. Anko though, was quite interested in whatever Kazehana was drinking, so she went to sit next to her and took out her own bottle before they started to silently share some cups of each other's beverages.

Kazehana was a very beautiful woman with a dark shade of purple hair and deep black eyes. She wore light pink lipstick. Kazehana displayed a very relaxed personality. She seemed confident in her natural sex appeal and was not afraid to speak her mind.

Miya only took a glance at Lee's condition before she knew that he was sea sick. She took out some sort of pill from a box she kept in her cabin and made him drink it with some water. The young man was then escorted to one of the guest's cabins to rest and wait for the pill to kick in.

Miya was a slender yet shapely woman with fair-skin and brown eyes. She had waist-length light purple hair with shorter bangs in a hime-style. She seemed like a very delicate and caring person, despite her previous action in cutting the pirate ship in two parts.

Naruto reappeared soon enough with the two other women at his side. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Anko and Kazehana exchanging drinks like old friends. However, they weren't here on a vacation so he shifted into his "business" mode and addressed the Konoha team.

"Private quarters have been made ready for you and your family, miss. You can put your belongings inside and take a moment to rest before we depart from this place again. You can roam the ship as you please, with only our quarters as an exception. That's all, I'll see you and your siblings when the ship sets sail again." Naruto said as he gestured for them to follow him inside the ship.

* * *

**Naruto's Room**

* * *

The blond laid in his bed, with his face mask off and, staring at the ceiling while pondering about his encounter with the disguised Konoha team. He knew, from his sensor's report, that they were shinobi. He wasn't sure from which village they hailed from, that would be something to find out later on. He would have to be careful too, in the remote chance that they came from Konoha, he would not reveal anything relevant about himself or his wives, information is power after all.

He was pulled out of his musings by the arrivals of both Miya and Kazehana in his room, the two lost no time and took off part of their clothes before they joined their husband on the bed. They snuggled on his shoulders from both sides and simply laid there with him, without saying a word.

"Where are the other two ?" Naruto asked.

"They're keeping an eye on our 'guests', Naruto-kun." Miya replied.

"I see, so, what did you both find out about them so far ?" The blond asked again.

"That woman is most likely their leader, she seemed experienced in the art of information gathering so I couldn't get anything really useful from her. I can tell from the Sake she bought in Wave, and the way the younger girl has been watching our gears and swords that it was their first time in Wave in a long time." Kazehana replied, taking a serious tone for once.

"Thanks, Hana-chan. By the way, what did you show them of your powers before we joined you guys ?" Naruto replied.

"Nothing much, I made it look like your normal Futon ninjutsu, anyone from chunin rank above with the good affinity could perform." She said with a shrug.

"What about you, Miya-chan ?" Naruto turned to the other woman on his bed.

"Hmm, so it's not just Miya or Kazehana anymore now ?" She teased him but also knew he was serious so she moved on with her report.

"Well, I only took a look at their sick member. From his body frame, I can tell he's most likely a taijutsu type, a good one at that. The girl did seem really interested in our katana, it should be safe to assume she is a kenjutsu or at least weapon specialist. The older woman though, as Kazehana said, is a bit hard to read. The same can be said about the final member of their team, he hasn't said a word ever since they came on the ship." Miya finished her report.

"Thanks, Miya-chan. About the naming thing, I have never been ashamed of having you all by my side, I just don't trust anyone besides our group. Information is power, I won't let anyone use you guys against me." Naruto said as he kissed them both on the lips.

"We know, Naruto-kun. I was just teasing you earlier." Miya said with a smile as he kissed her again.

"Aw, what about me **Kuro Kitsune-sama**." Kazehana purred in his ears.

"Tch, I still wonder how it turned out like this. I really wanted to draw a black Lion for our flags, I absolutely love those. Now everyone thinks it's a fox, you girls even took the exact same design for your clothes and weapons, so I can't possibly change it anymore." Naruto pouted as he remembered the first time his drawing was misunderstood. Furthermore, that moniker, it brought them unwanted attention from the blond's dark past.

"Well I find it really cute, if you want I could even get a tattoo of this on _any_ part of my body you'd like it to be." Kazehana told him seductively.

"It was not meant to be cute, damn it. I wanted to instill fear among our enemies when they gaze at our flag, fear not cute !" Naruto replied.

"It's time to get going again, we should go back on deck and meet with the others." Miya cut their antics short as she reminded them of the schedule.

* * *

**Ship's Deck**

* * *

With the civilian's side preparations over, both ships took the direction of Kirigakure once more. It would take them one day to reach their destination at their current pace. Naruto's ship kept a safe distance from the civilian one in order to maintain a bit of privacy.

Lee had been cured from being sea sick by whatever Miya gave him, so he joined his teammates on the ship's deck after they briefed him on what happened while he was out of it. He was especially interested in the technique the fourth women used when she attacked the pirates but Anko forbid him from seeking a fight with any member of Naruto's crew.

When the night finally came, Naruto invited them to the ship's dinning hall where Miya served them delicious food and Kazehana offered them some really expensive Sake to drink. Tenten and Neji managed to stop Lee from drinking at the last moment, saying that their 'brother' had a condition that prevented him from enjoying alcohol.

Strangely, the two women with silver eyes did not join them for dinner. When asked, Naruto told them that they already ate earlier and chose to retire themselves for the night. Anko took notice of something off in Naruto's tone, most likely indicating a lie or half truth, he was skilled but she was a specialist at reading people.

When dinner was over, Naruto stood up and looked at his guests before speaking in a serious tone, showing that he meant business.

"Now that we are a bit more comfortable, and also out of hearing range, mind telling me why you're all hiding your identities as shinobi behind those **Henge** ?" The blond said, not missing the shocked looks on the chunin faces while Anko narrowed her eyes at their 'hosts'.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now, folks. So, how was it ?

With the confirmation of the first two members of Naruto's crew / harem, I've decided to add more descriptions of their physical appearances. I also kept Naruto's look form Kaze no Kami, with his 'Arrancar' type of clothing.

As for the two other women on the ship with him, they are of course also members of the harem and I've added fight scenes or abilities for them and one unique physical trait has been revealed. This will stay that way until someones actually identifies them, shouldn't be that hard, _hinting at their swords or their eyes._

Naruto's fighting style is also still a mystery, I can't give out everything so fast so soon, what I said during this chapter is also applicable in this situation, information is power :)

Naruto's flagship's name is still not set in stone, I like Japanese names, suggestions are welcome.

Now, give me feedback, that's important especially for starting chapters. I had the first chapter beat the crap out of Kaze no Kami chapters in terms of readers' responses with 37 reviews but the final chapter of first story took the lead again with an impressive 42 reviews so far. It even allowed the count to get over the 1000 reviews, so cheers to that, not too shabby for my first attempt at writing a story not even in my native language.


	3. Mind Games

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know, English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

That was fast, first reviewer already mentioned the **Claymore** universe, though he was wrong on one of the two ladies. Miria was found out pretty quickly, since her abilities are pretty unique and flashy. Galatea was a bit harder to figure out I guess, since a little more than one **Claymore** share those particular sensory skills. Congratulations to '**sh8ad8ow'**, for being the first to formally name both of them as the other two members of Naruto's crew and harem.

There are some of you that worry about the future allegiance of Naruto toward Konoha, how he shouldn't concern himself or his loved ones with them, let me assure you that contrary to Kaze no Kami, this Naruto is not set on becoming the Leaf's golden boy. Another flaw I'm trying to correct from that story is Naruto's one dimensional personality, this one will hopefully be less naive and idealistic while being a little bit more selfish and calculative.

Finally, yes, I'm trying to keep Naruto's identity a secret to everyone outside his family. This doesn't include you, readers, so when I'm writing in a narrative perspective, I will use the name Naruto. The members of the crew will call him Naruto in private but use the Captain name or another nickname for him in public until it's time for everyone else to know. I didn't want to use a fake name because I pretty much hate it when authors do that for Naruto, it feels like reading an O/C story, not that I say that those are bad or something, but when you have the Naruto tag as main character on your story, people expect you to respect it, at least I do.

I received some interesting suggestions for the ship's name, I'm still not sure whether to keep the one I used or pick something else.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 3 : Mind Games**

* * *

**Yamato Flagship's Dinning Hall**

The members of Team Anko froze on their respective seats as Naruto just told them he knew they were shinobi and that they were hiding behind a **Henge**. Anko had the feeling they knew from the beginning and that's the reason why they were 'invited' to this ship, however, Naruto had left her with no choice when he extended the 'invitation'.

"It really depends, Sir, who's asking this question ?" Anko replied, trying to get more information about Naruto.

"As expected from you, miss. You are definitely the leader of your team, but, you really need to answer my question now." Naruto told her.

Anko subconsciously went to grab for a kunai in her coat when the clicking of a sword being drawn caught her attention. Looking sideways, she saw Miya with her thumb on the handle of her sword, ready to leap in and do similar damage she did to the pirate ship and in Anko's memories, that was not a good way to die.

"I strongly advise you to refrain from any violent action while on this ship. I would really hate it if I had to use my sword in this place, I really love it since I'm the one who decorated." Miya said while keeping her voice low.

"Even if you managed to get passed me and the girls, and that's a big if, it would do you no good since we're still in the middle of nowhere and who would cure you and your team from the poison you've just all ingested during dinner ?" Naruto added from his seat.

"P-poison, what the hell are you talking about we've all eaten the same food." Tenten suddenly said, with panic in her tone. Neji and Lee remained silent but they also started to feel nervous and could not believe they fell for such an easy trap.

"Well, remember that delicious Sake I made you drink at the beginning of the meal, that was laced with a powerful neurotoxin that will stop your heart after some time if an antidote is not taken in time to counter its effect. We obviously are immune to it and I bet you're all already feeling your heartbeat racing up." Kazehana supplied, still with her casual tone, even though she just dropped a bomb on them.

True to her words, the members of the Konoha team with the exception of Lee, were starting to feel the discomfort in their chest area. The symptoms were perfectly matching with what Kazehana just told them.

Anko couldn't believe her luck, they didn't even make it to Kirigakure and they were already facing a life and death crisis. Unfortunately for her and the younger ones, the orders were clear, they were not to be identified by Kiri as shinobi from the Leaf and those people weren't going to buy any lie from them.

"Do not misunderstand me though, miss. I may have a contract with Kirigakure for patrolling this part of the seas, this doesn't make me nor any of my crew members a Kiri shinobi. I'm not going to hide the fact that we do share friendly relationships with them, however, we do not belong to them." Naruto said, as if reading her mind and the reasons why she didn't want to speak.

The Snake Mistress sighed and knew she had no choice but to trust this masked man. It was also true that he could have turn them in to the Kiri shinobi from the other ship at any time but didn't. Furthermore, if he really was the same man that saved Wave Country, there was still hope her and the team to make it out alive while not betraying their home village.

Anko nodded to her team and they all canceled the **Henge** that hid their true appearances. They still had no headband to identify them as Konoha shinobi but Anko was more or less famous for being Orochimaru's former student, so she had her own profile in the Bingo Book, making it quite simple to connect the dots for whoever had knowledge of that.

"Hmm, Konoha's Snake Mistress, Mitarashi Anko. Former student of the Snake Sannin Orochimaru and A-Rank jonin kunoichi from Konohagakure. I'm afraid I don't know anything about your team, though I believe this one to be a Hyuga." Naruto mused out loud as he saw Neji and his pale white eyes that betrayed his origins.

"You've had what you wanted from us, now give us the antidote !" Anko yelled at him, suddenly standing up from her seat.

She was instantly intercepted by one of the two women who were supposed to have gone to sleep. She was the one with the incredible movements and sword skills and said woman was currently holding her long sword against Anko's neck, ready to cut at Naruto's command or any act of threat against him.

"That's enough, Miria, Galatea. You can both stand down for now, we were simply talking, nothing more. And here I thought Kazehana was the hot blooded one ..." Naruto said, as the one who was holding her sword against Anko stepped back from her position to went to stand next to Naruto.

Footsteps were heard from the room next to theirs and seconds later, the second missing woman appeared and also went to stand next to Naruto. The blond gave her a nod and she seemed to relax herself at that.

As soon as she did, Anko and her teammates felt the pressure in their chest slowly disappear, as if the poison was never there to begin with. They looked at each other, unable to grasp what had just happened to them.

"W-What, How ? But I thought we ..." Tenten was relieved to see the pain in her chest lifted but couldn't comprehend how. Anko though, knew they had just been scammed by that man and his crew. Nevertheless, the pain felt real and she was curious as to how they had managed to trick her into believing she was going into cardiac arrest.

The Snake Mistress was also impressed, being a Torture & Interrogation expert herself, this man's methods were quite something. One would usually break a group like theirs into smaller groups of individuals and work from there, but this man used their collective fear against them by triggering genuine reactions from her own teammates to influence her decisions as their leader.

"There was never any poison in our drinks, right ?" Anko asked, as her teammates' eyes widened at her question, not missing the smirk on Kazehana's face.

"Bingo, you sure understood this fast, as expected of one of the foremost T&I expert from the Leaf. You are correct, there was no poison in the Sake, just some mass hysteric reaction and something else you needn't concern yourselves with, in order to help you make your decision." Naruto replied while the Leaf chunin released a collective sigh at the news of them not poisoned nor dying.

"Now that you know where we come from, what are you going to do about it ?" Anko asked him.

"Nothing much, I have nothing against the Leaf. I will still take you to Kiri and keep your identities hidden if that's what you wish. You can also stay on this ship until our escort mission is over and we'll drop you back in Wave after that, if you don't trust us with keeping your secret." Naruto said with a shrug. Anko noticed a hint of falsehood again in his speech when he spoke about Konoha but chose to leave it at that for now.

"I will need to discuss this with my team in private if you don't mind." Anko replied.

"Sure, take all the time you need, time is all we have currently. Miria, Galatea, you can both return to your quarters, for real this time. Our guest will behave, won't they ?" Naruto said, to which the Konoha team eagerly nodded and the two blonde women left the room for good this time.

Miria had silver eyes and shoulder length, blond hair styled in a razor-shag cut that she tied it in a ponytail. As Naruto's other wives, she had a very nice body for a decent height of 5 feet 9 inches. She seemed like the serious type and didn't smile at all. Galatea had straight, very long flowing blonde hair. She was also the tallest among their group with 6 feet 1 inch. She often had a smug expression on her face. As the other four, she seemed to be in her late twenties.

Naruto then stood up, and, to everyone's astonishment, he started to collect the dishes and went to the sink to wash them. None of them had though he would do these kind of "chores" on his own ship. Miya and Kazehana simply sipped their tea while watching their captain.

"Oh and before you make a decision, let me tell you something. I know those guys in Kiri, they wouldn't mind you, walking in as you are right now and asking questions about their position in your upcoming war. I'm not sure of their answer about that though." Naruto said as he continued working on the dishes.

Once done, he silently left the room followed by Miya and Kazehana, leaving the Konoha team on their own as they started to discuss their options.

* * *

**Main Island's Docks**

* * *

In the end, Team Anko decided to trust Naruto and continued their journey to Kirigakure with him. They insisted on keeping their identities as Konoha shinobi a secret though, not wanting to disobey the orders they had been given by their superiors. Technically, they had already failed, due to the blond and his crew finding out about them. However, as he told them, Naruto wasn't a part of Kiri's forces, only a subcontractor, so it wasn't so bad.

"There you go, Kirigakure is East from here, about half a day of walking at civilian pace. We will resupply and rest here for three days before we leave for Wave. If you want to join us, then be there before we leave." Naruto said as he saw the Konoha team off.

"Won't you even tell me your real name, **Kuro Kitsune** ?" Anko asked, already knowing his answer since the man seemed quite adamant to keep his face mask on at all times.

"Until we meet again, miss." Naruto replied, not answering her question and he left without looking back as he made his way toward to his ship. Once the Leaf shinobi had left the area, Naruto snapped his fingers and two shadows slowly jumped out of nowhere.

"I need you two to follow them and report everything you can on their activities in Kirigakure to me without being seen by them. They will travel at civilian speed so you can let them take some lead if you want, but, don't take too long either. We leave in three days so don't be late. You have to report back here no matter what they do, and since I don't plan to come back here for quite some time after that." Naruto said as they nodded and disappeared again.

"Are you sure it was safe to send those two after them, they are less than … discrete, when they get into one of their eternal arguments." Miya told him, as saw the two shadows disappearing into the crowd, following the Konoha Team while keeping a safe distance from them.

"You worry too much, Miya-chan, it will get you early wrinkles on your beautiful face. They're both quite powerful so there's no need to concern yourself, you act almost like a mother ..." Naruto did not have the time to finish his sentence when he sensed a rush of KI from his purple haired wife as she gripped the handle of her katana.

"Like a … What, Naruto-kun ?" Miya said threateningly, caressing the handle of her blade.

"A big sister, yes, like a big sister Miya-chan." Naruto pleaded, cursing his big mouth.

"Much better dear, now let's get you some lunch." Miya said with a smile while Naruto sighed in relief, following after his wife.

They were about to return inside the ship when both of them stopped in their track without looking back. Kazehana, Galatea and Miria instantly appeared next to Naruto and all prepared to unsheathe their swords.

"Four, no five, all jonin level and closing fast, they will be here in thirty seconds." Galatea reported.

Naruto raised a hand up, signaling his wives to stand down while he turned back toward the island.

"You already had your fun yesterday with those pirates, I think it's my turn this time." Naruto said to his wives. Fortunately for him, this part of the docks were almost empty and all the civilians had already departed toward Kirigakure. That meant he would be able to unleash a little bit of his power without attracting unwanted attention.

True to Galatea's predictions, footsteps were heard twenty seconds later and the invaders came in sight. Looking to their headbands, they were Kiri missing nins because of the Hidden Mist symbol slashed with a horizontal line on them.

"Die, **Kuro Kitsune** ! With your head we become famous for killing a Kage slayer !" Yelled one of them as they approached Naruto's ship. Once again, Naruto sighed as his wives were laughing at him for that moniker. He knew he would have to get used to it from now on.

At least, this had the benefit of placing him in the good mood, to deal with his incoming opponents.

**"Uzumaki Kenpo : Fu Rin Ka In Zan Rai."** Naruto said without moving an inch.

Lightning sparks started to gather all around his body and not a second later, he instantly phased out of existence, only to appear again right in the middle of the four missing nins as he elbowed the first one he met on his way. That one never saw what hit him and found himself propelled backward, his chest hurting like hell as it was lit on fire.

One of the missing nin tried to use a sword to cut him, but, to their group's astonishment, the blond merely blocked his slash using a finger, no armored glove, no hidden blade, just his damn finger. To the others of the assaulting group it felt ridiculous, however, to the one who just attempted the cut, it felt like trying to cut through a rock, maybe even harder than that.

Just after that, the four started to panic as killing intent started to gather all around them, rendering them all oblivious to their surroundings and comrades. The only one not caught in that strange jutsu was Naruto's first victim. That one managed to take off his jonin vest and was currently watching as the blond used moves so fast he couldn't even follow them.

The man watched as Naruto mercilessly slaughtered his comrades with moves he couldn't even comprehend. When the last one fell and Naruto turned back to him, his eyes widened as he just realized that during all this, he never heard anything from Naruto's techniques.

Such powerful attacks should have made a hell of a noise each time he moved, punched, blocked or kicked an opponent. However, those moves from the masked blond were absolutely soundless. He started to panic and tried to run away on his own, never noticing that Naruto was already in front of him. The only sounds the man heard were the beats of his heart as the blond finished him the same way he did his comrades.

"Well, that was disappointing dear, seeing you use such a move on small fries like them." Kazehana said as she and the other wives joined him.

Galatea went to check if more enemies were coming while Miya verified if all those men were dead and Miria simply took those Miya confirmed as dead and threw them in the sea. Naruto crouched down to pick a small book up and started to scan its content.

"Well that explains it, check this out girls." Naruto said, giving the book to his wives, already opened at a particular page for them that read :

* * *

**Name :** Unknown

**Nickname :** Kuro Kitsune

**Age :** 20-25

**Rank :** S

**Status :** Unknown, at least Jonin

**Attributes:** Kenjutsu(S) and Taijutsu(S)

**Affinities :** Wind, Fire, Lightning, Earth

**Bloodline :** Unknown

**Description :** Blond hair, blue eyes; See picture

Wears a face mask to keep his identity hidden

**Defeated** S-Rank Kiri Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi

**Action :** Do not engage

**Bounty :** None

* * *

"Ha ha ha, look at that picture, this is so funny." Miya said as she and the other wives were reading that book. The picture they took was one of Naruto eating a bowl of ramen in a restaurant of Kiri.

"What are you going to do about this, Naruto-kun ?" Miria asked her husband.

"I know who did this, come, we're going to Kiri. I have an old friend of mine to visit. Miya-chan, you're on ship duty." Naruto grumbled as he left, followed by Kazehana, Galatea and Miria.

* * *

**Meanwhile, in Kirigakure**

* * *

A busty red head sneezed in her office as she felt a chill down her spine.

"Something wrong, Mizukage-sama ?" One of her guard asked.

"Nope, everything is fine, someone must be talking about me, I hope it's a handsome man." She replied, missing the sweat drops on her guards' heads.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it folks, so how was it ? Still hooked ?

I had a little bit of free time so I decided to continue writing, do not expect this as a regular thing though, during busy times, one chapter a week is really my maximum.

For those of you who didn't understand the dinner scene, and how Naruto faked the poison thing, well, try to read a bit about Galatea's powers in Claymore. I will continue to give out more insight on hers and the other's powers as we reach further in the chapters. For now, just try to remain patient.

Before anyone asks, yes the two shadows that joined him on the main island's shore are also a pair of crossover women I plan to include in the harem. Suppositions about their identities may seem a bit difficult at this point, given the little you know about them, though you can still try to guess.

Gave out a bit of what I intend for Naruto to specialize in, for this story. This should sate those who were dying to know about his skills. First Bingo Book issue is released too, remember that it's just temporary, since no one really knows what he's really capable of.

Next time, action in Kirigakure with Team Anko, the Mizukage and Naruto's group.

Until next time, please Read and Review as usual.

* * *

**New Jutsu : **

**Uzumaki Kenpo : Fu Rin Ka In Zan Rai**, translates as Uzumaki Martial Arts : Wind Forest Fire Shadow Mountain Lightning. Advanced taijutsu style of Naruto which uses the elements of Nature in order to enhance one's offense or defense powers.


	4. Bloody Mist

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

Some of you noticed my Prince of Tennis references, as I already did in Kaze no Kami. Well, yes it's an unending source of inspiration, I say inspiration and not copy paste, since every move does have its own adaptation to the Naruto verse. I don't know if I'm the first to do this, but I've seen at least one new story ever since where the author did the same.

There's a funny coincidence about all the women in his life, let's see if someone can figure this out. However, above that funny mystery thing, those women were chosen because like Naruto, they are not one hundred percent human and can relate to him when it comes to that difference.

In this chapter, Naruto and some of his wives will be talking in a foreign language, in order to not be understood by those around them. During those scenes and for a future reference, dialog lines will be tagged like this : _**"Can I ask you a question ?"**_. As for the language, let's say English, since they are supposedly speaking Japanese in the Naruto verse. I'm not sure how original this is, but I have never seen this done yet on the several stories I read on this site :)

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 4 : Bloody Mist**

* * *

**Kirigakure, Kage Tower**

It only took one hour for Naruto and his group to arrive in Kirigakure. They had gone the same way the Konoha team did, but, contrary to them Naruto's group didn't need to mask their speed and went all out toward their destination. Naruto did notice the moment they went past the Leaf shinobi, also spotting his two spies following after them. With their current speed, it would take them another six hours to get there.

Upon arriving into the village, Naruto sent Kazehana and Miria shopping the supplies for their ship. They were supposed to do it in the port town but had to change place, since Naruto decided to visit Kiri after his fight with the missing nins. The blond had been less than pleased to see his profile in the famous Bingo Book. Apparently, someone he knew in Kiri was the responsible for that and he was on his way to meet that 'benefactor'.

Galatea went with him as an escort and also as the only person who would easily find the other two once they're done, given her godly sensory skills. They were both currently waiting in the lobby of the Mizukage office as the secretary had told them to wait for a little bit.

"**_Can I ask you a question, honey ?"_** Galatea asked her husband, using her native language.

"**_In English ? Why ? Is there a problem, Tea-chan ?"_** Naruto replied, also using her language.

"**_Why are we even here ? You always knew this would happen from the moment you declined their offer and yet you seem surprised by the outcome of your refusal."_** Galatea replied.

"**_I know this is all going according to our plan, but I wanted to make sure of something before __we move on to the next phase."_** Naruto said as the door to the office suddenly opened.

"Mizukage-sama will see you now." The secretary said before leading them in her leader's office.

* * *

**With Team Anko**

* * *

The Konoha team was still on its way to the Hidden Mist, oddly enough, still with the civilians that were traveling with them on the transporting ship since Wave Country. Anko was once again bored out of her mind as she cursed having to disguise herself as a civilian.

Her team seemed to be doing better than her. It seems that having come close to death during their encounter with the mysterious savior of Wave, at least from their point of view, had put their mind back on the mission and they were now one hundred percent focused on it.

None of them had noticed the small "addition" to their group, with two more civilian women that tagged along ever since they left the port. Said women were currently in the back of the group, in the middle of a conversation, it seems, since no one around them could understand a word of what they were speaking about.

"_**I'm telling you he is my destined one, the only one who can touch me."**_ The first one said.

"_**What are you talking about, you haven't even performed the baptism with him yet, have you ?"**_ The second asked.

"_**So what if I haven't, the same can be said about you too."**_ The first one answered with a smirk.

"_**He said that we weren't ready for it yet, and that he's willing to wait for us."**_ The second girl said as she heavily sighed.

"_**He doesn't need to be that shy around us, even though he already has four other wives."**_ The first added.

"_**True, but that's why we came to love him in the first place."**_ The second replied.

"_**For once we can agree on something, let's pick up the pace."**_ The first concluded.

Both wore large cloak that hid their entire body, so no one knew what they really looked like. Not that anyone really cared, since they were all just a bunch of strangers on the road together since it felt safer to travel that way.

* * *

**Mizukage Office**

* * *

The secretary left them and closed the door behind her after she had led Naruto and Galatea into the Mizukage office. Seated behind her desk was Terumi Mei, Godaime Mizukage of the Hidden Mist. She was a very beautiful woman in her thirties with green eyes and ankle-length, auburn hair.

"**Kuro** **Kitsune**, what a pleasant surprise to see you. What are you doing here ?" Mei asked, upon seeing Naruto in her office.

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Mizukage-dono." Naruto replied in a neutral tone, showing Mei he was dead serious this time.

"Okay, so what happened ?" Mei asked, a little surprised by his tone.

"I came upon this while killing five of your missing nins at the port of the main island." Naruto said as he threw the Bingo Book at her, already opened to the section with his profile in it.

"I see … I suppose you think we have something to do with this, right ?" Mei said as she closed the book, her voice had tint of sadness in it and she did not look back into Naruto's eyes.

"The picture has been taken here in Kiri and I pretty much remember what part of my skills I used in the war that put you in charge of this village, Mei." Naruto said, seeing her sad made him softer than what he intended to be.

"I don't know how to say this, but, I think you're right. After you refused our offer to instate you and your crew as true members of Kirigakure, some among the council came to see you as a threat. This is all politics, they were part of the leadership during the rebellion and now they are part of this village as well, as council members. I need them to rule in peace and I think this came from one of them." Mei admitted with a sigh.

Turning to his wife, Naruto saw Galatea nodding back at him, signaling that she had deemed Mei trustful enough during her admission of not being aware of her council's actions. Galatea was so skilled with chakra detection that she could tell from reading a person's chakra signature if he was lying or not, and it seemed that Mei told him the truth.

"I understand, Mei. Though I wouldn't be surprised if among those members, there was one or more of them that supports those pirates you've paid me to deal with. That's the only reason I can think of why my presence here would bother them this much, other than pure paranoia." Naruto said.

"You are most certainly right, some of them had been raiding those ships that belonged to Yagura in the past, during our civil war. Now that he's gone, they needed new targets, and you were in their way. I will have to deal with them one day, but not now. Not when we are still recovering from the war, I can't afford any more internal struggling for power, at least for a while. I am sorry about this." Mei replied.

"That's one of the many reasons I decided to never align myself with any Village, no matter how generous their offers may seem. I value my freedom too much for that. This, unfortunately, also means that our business venture ends today, I trust you, but I don't trust your council so we must part ways for now." Naruto said.

Mei was sad, she had come to enjoy the blond's presence and now they were forced to go separate ways. This was just not meant to be, now she had to stay strong for her village and the people who counted on her to lead them in those troubled times. Seeing his friend sad, Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and took out a small box out of his coat. Inside was a small black pearl that he gave to her.

"This is something for you, as a token of our friendship Mei. If you ever find yourself one day in a situation where you are in need of my help, just throw it in the water and I'll definitely come to you as fast as I can." Naruto said as she took the pearl and nodded.

After that Naruto left her office and went to look for his two other wives, hoping that they did not spend all the money on things like Sake or weapons.

* * *

**Back on the Yamato**

* * *

Naruto did find Miria and Kazehana a bit too late, as the two had already spent a sizable amount of money on Sake and weapons before he could locate them. Even if he had managed to find them in time, it was doubtful the result would have been any different, since he could never say no to any of them.

They were now back on the Yamato with Miya, in the dinning room, talking about the conversation that took place in Mei's Office.

"Phase one of the plan is now over, with my appearance in the Bingo Book and the meeting with a Konoha team, it's only a matter of time before the second phase starts." Naruto said, as he finished his report on what had happened with Mei.

"Why didn't you show her your true face or tell her your real name, if you really meant what you said to her about trust and friendship ?" Miya asked him.

"Besides you four and the other two tagging along with the Konoha team right now, there is no one else I could trust with my identity. Mei has shown she values our friendship to a certain extend, but above all that, she values her village even more." Naruto replied.

"Well that's understandable, she did fight hard to get where she is right now after all and she also has a lot of people looking up to her too as the leader of her village." Miria said.

"Anything else of note happened during your visit, Naruto-kun ?" Kazehana asked, already a bit drunk with the Sake she just brought in Kiri.

"Nothing much, really ..." Naruto started to say before Galatea interrupted him.

"He gave Mei a new picture of him for her to replace the old one in the Bingo Book. It's that photo with him destroying the bridge in Wave." Galatea said as Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head with a forced smile on his face.

"I thought that if I am to have a profile in that damn book, I'd rather have a more bad ass picture of me in there, you know, to scare the competition away." Naruto confessed.

"But I really thought the previous one made you look so cute." Kazehana said, making him pout.

"Alright, alright let's move on please. So we're leaving Water Country after this ?" Miya asked.

"Yes, I have no doubt they will take the bait, so we'll be quite busy with them once phase two is activated." Naruto replied.

"Are we supposed to wait here for two days, for Stella and Rana to come back with the Konoha team ?" Galatea asked him.

"I know of something really fun we could all do during those two days of waiting ..." Naruto said with a smirk while looking at his four wives.

* * *

**Water Country, Around the Secondary Island Northwest of Kirigakure**

* * *

Naruto had moved the Yamato from the mainland to a remote island located Northwest from Kiri. He had decided to leave behind him one last gift to Mei, the eradication of a pirate stronghold one of his merchant ship had found out by accident during a visit to Kiri.

_**A/N : Pretty sure some of you were expecting or even hoping for another outcome :)**_

According to Mei, this island had been abandoned quite some time ago, due to the lack of natural resource it provided. This in turn allowed those pirates to make it the ground base for their activities and operations in the area. Since most of their "income" came from the raids, they didn't really feel the need to concern themselves with issues like natural resources in the first place.

The Yamato was currently cruising in a circle at slow pace around the island, trying to keep a safe distance from it, to avoid early detection. The pirate ship, which served in the attack on the civilian ship that Naruto escorted back to Kirigakure, most likely came from here as well. The report gave an estimate of twenty ships into the pirates' hands, making it approximately six hundred men in the enemy ranks.

The odds seemed less than favorable for Naruto and his reduced crew of four women and himself with more than one hundred men for each of them to fight on their own. Despite those odds, they seemed quite relaxed as they stood on the deck of the Yamato.

"Seven hundred forty six contacts, most of them are ranging from civilian to chunin level. I can also sense the weakest of them are concentrated in the center of the island. There are a few of them with jonin level also staying in the center but nothing close to a threat for any of us." Galatea announced as she took out the claymore she held on her back.

"As expected from you, **Shingan no Galatea**, you can feel all this despite the distance." Miria said as she also prepared herself and drew out her own claymore. Both of them closed their eyes and started to gather their youki. Once they reopened them, their eyes had turned yellow instead of their natural silver color, signaling that they were battle ready.

"Should we take down their ships as well, Naruto-kun ?" Miya asked her husband as she prepared her katana as well.

"Leave them be for the moment. We will concentrate everything on the men first." Naruto replied before turning to Kazehana.

"Everyone is ready, Hana-chan, you may begin." Naruto said to her as Miya, Galatea and Miria all came closer to him.

"Well, let's go then." Kazehana replied as she too joined the group and then lifted a hand. A gush of wind suddenly appeared around them and took them toward the island.

* * *

**On the island**

* * *

The arrival of Naruto and his group on the island's beach created a sandstorm, due to Kazehana and her wind powers combined to the sand that laid there. This caused every single pirate on that island to spot them and an alert that could be heard throughout the island was launched.

The group separated in three sub groups with Miya and Kazehana forming a pair, Miria and Galatea forming a second pair and finally Naruto going on his own. The purple haired beauties went to the ships while the blondes stayed on the shore.

The pirates came out of absolutely everywhere, Naruto had made sure to start the attack at dawn, a strategic time where they would most likely be all there and sleepy. Sleepy they were, as Naruto's groups started to slaughter them left and right with no true resistance.

* * *

**With Miya and Kazehana**

* * *

As they landed on the first of the twenty pirates ships that were stationed in the area, Miya and Kazehana started to raise hell for their crews as both unleashed their powers on the unfortunate fools.

"**Ikorose, Shinso."** Miya said as her blade glowed white and then with a single swing, she cut everything down in a hundred meter radius, including the ship's mast.

"Arara, and here I thought we were supposed to preserve the ships, this one ain't going anywhere now with the nice "upgrade" you just provided it with." Kazehana teased her friend before she too unsheathed her katana.

"**Chire, Senbonzakura."** Kazehana said as the wind picked up and her blade glowed pink. It then suddenly separated in thousands of smaller parts which flew away and targeted the "fortunate" souls who had escaped from Miya's initial strike.

They went on like this from ship to ship, with Miya performing the initial strikes while Kazehana took care of those who were lucky enough to escape the first hit, never letting a single survivor in their wake.

* * *

**With Miria and Galatea**

* * *

The two blonde had to deal with those who had set camp on the beach, which basically meant half of the enemy's forces. Kazehana had dropped them right in the middle of their camp and they were also in the midst of releasing some of their hidden strength.

"**Kori no Sekai."** Galatea announced as every men running toward them in a radius of one hundred meter froze on their spot, unable to take another step. She then used her blade and started to kill off those closest to her position.

"I see that your perfect control over youki not only serves as a good sensor tool but also allows you to physically manipulate those around in a certain distance, Galatea." Miria said as she too started to release her powers.

"**Kamikakushi."** Miria called as she instantly disappeared from her position beside Galatea. The field was soon covered with replications of Miria's as she appeared in front of every man that had been caught by Galatea's trap. The same thing that had happened on the civilian ship took place again, as those men were all cut down by Miria's illusions.

"As expected of you, **Gen'ei no Miria**. You certainly live up to your moniker." Galatea said to her partner. With their combined powers, the men from the ground camp stood no chance and, as their harem sisters, they gave no quarters to the enemy and no survivor was left alive.

* * *

**With Naruto**

* * *

The Captain of the Yamato went off on his own toward the center of the island, hoping to find the strongest fighters among the pirates. Fortunately for him, he did find a smaller base where the jonin level pirates were all staying. Unfortunately for them, they were doing the one thing Naruto loathes the most, they were running a slave camp with the prisoners they took from their raids, and, said prisoners were all women that they gathered for their sick pleasure in this base.

"**Uzumaki Kenpo : Fu Rin Ka In Zan Rai !"** Naruto yelled, getting the attention of every enemy that was inside that base. Needless to say that no one with a penis was able to leave that base alive, aside from Naruto of course.

* * *

**On the Beach**

* * *

The four members of Naruto's crew had assembled on the shore as they had finished their respective tasks. The ships had been "cleaned out" of their previous occupants and the ground camp had been "evacuated" from all its inhabitants.

They first had been surprised, when they felt the level of killing intent rising to godly levels near the center of the island, meaning Naruto had found out something that was most likely not to his liking.

They then understood why, when he came back with close to one hundred women, all in shock, at what they both were subjected to and what they saw Naruto doing to the men responsible for their suffering.

Naruto had thought that the ships would be a good way to move those women back to Kiri, where they then could be returned to their families and loved ones. However, seeing the state of those ships after Miya and Kazehana had their fun, he sighed and then moved toward the sea.

"**Ninpo : Kuchiyose no Jutsu !"** He called out as a pack of whales emerged from the water.

"**How may we serve you, my lord ?"** One of the creature asked him.

"I want you to tow four ships and safely escort those women back to the main island's port." Naruto answered and then turned back to the women. He summoned a case and opened it, inside was a load of money that was evenly distributed among the women.

"Please board four of those ships, they will lead you back to the mainland. Here is some money for all of you, to cover additional travel expenses if you need to go somewhere else from there in order to go back to your homes." Naruto said.

When the four ships departed, Naruto turned back to his wives and smiled.

"Let's go back too, we have to meet with the others tonight. This isn't what I had in mind when I said we'd have some fun but I'm still glad we came." He said as they smiled back at him and went back toward the Yamato.

* * *

**A/N :** That's it for now folks. You've been really helpful with the feedback so far. Please continue to give me your opinions about the story on what you like or what you don't like.

* * *

I for once am glad that I was wrong and someone managed to uncover the identities of the two final crossover girls that are romantically involved with Naruto. Congratulations to '**fan**', the anonymous reviewer for finding out Stella and Rana from the **Freezing** universe, despite the rare hints I gave. I wanted younger girls for him, to balance the four already known that are in their late twenties. This also goes along with the "Mother" teasing from Naruto against Miya, but more about that later.

I decided to only have one woman from the Naruto verse that will paired with Naruto, making it a seven women harem. Unfortunately, it will not be Mei, don't misunderstand me I love her too but I have someone else in mind for him this time. She's not appearing until a little while so we'll discuss this again a bit later, as there's already much to be done with the current members.

Due to popular demand, here is a list for the known members of Naruto's harem and crew so far :

**Wives**

Uzumaki Miya

Uzumaki Kazehana

Uzumaki Miria

Uzumaki Galatea

**Fiancée  
**

Linchen Rana

Bridget Stella

Besides the woman from this world that will join him, there will be no one else, not even flings or anything of the sort. Seven wives is a lot and it will be challenging to make this work but I hope I can succeed in that aspect. Plus seven is my lucky number :)

Now onto the fighting, yes I tweaked Miya and Kazehana quite a bit, to be a better fir for my story and Naruto's world. Tried to remain close to what they could do in their original world but now they have something I can work with, without it getting overly repetitive. Miria's and Galatea's aren't so different from their original powers for now, it may or may not change in the future though.

No new technique revealed for Naruto, except that he can summon whales. Wanted to focus more on the girls since we only had a peak at what they could do. I absolutely hate rapists and you will never see me graphically describe a rape scene in any of my stories, even against Sasuke, I find them sick and those using them in their stories immediately lose my attention. Everyone is free to do what he or she wants to a certain extend, and most of them do warn you first, but still …

Anyway, as usual please read and review.

* * *

**Jutsu / Techniques**

* * *

**Ikorose, Shinso**, translates as "Shoot to kill, God's Spear". Miya's primary ability with her katana, allowing her to exponentially extend her reach with it, in order to strike down multiple targets from a large distance.

**Chire, Senbonzakura**, translates as "Scatter, Thousand Cherry Blossom". Kazehana's primary ability with her katana, allowing her to divide it into thousands of very small parts that she can control in order to attack groups of enemies.

**Kori no Sekai**, translates as "World of Ice". One of Galatea's ability, using her powerful youki control she can read as well as manipulate those around her by taking control of their own youki reserves.

**Kamikakushi**, translates as "Spirited Away". One of Miria's ability, with instant burst of youki she enhances her speed to such an extend it leaves after images of herself that seem to be dealing the damage themselves.


	5. The Bait

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

Some interesting comments came up for the previous chapter, such as the energy behind each of Naruto's wives powers. I've been using the **Youki** term for Miria and Galatea, it's their demonic genes that allow them to execute their techniques. In Sekirei, they did use magical powers too, however I don't remember a unit used to quantify it, so with the **Zanpakuto** I gave them, the word **Reiatsu** shall be used for them. Finally, for Stella and Rana, **Volt** will be used since it's the official term from the Freezing universe.

Now to make all this mess work with the Naruto verse, where chakra is the common unit, we will use the theory behind chakra creation. It is said that chakra is produced by the combination of both physical and spiritual energy, let's say in a **50 / 50** ratio. **Youki**, which seems to be a more physical energy will be **75** percent physical and **25** percent spiritual, **Reiatsu** which seems more spiritual than physical will be **25** percent physical and **75** percent spiritual and finally **Volt** will be a perfect mix between the two with **50** percent each, just like chakra. Those figures aren't set in stone, I am opened to adjustments if you wish to change some of them.

Rana and Stella (I refuse to use the ridiculous Satellizer name) were pretty well received, they will have some more screen time soon enough. The identity of the final wife will remain hidden for now and I won't confirm or deny whether a reviewer has the good answer or not, until the story is more advanced. As I already said before, it will be a handful to deal with all the women already known so far. The list is still available at the end of chapter four.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 5 : The Bait**

* * *

**Yamato Flagship**

Naruto and his group had joined up with Team Anko the night following their attack on that pirate's base in Water Country. His two spies had returned as well, acting as if they were coming back from a business trip on another part of Water Country. They also had two other guests coming with them, as Inari and Tazuna, Tsunami's son and father, were really returning from a business trip in the area.

Everyone was currently on board the Yamato, for a three days trip that was leading them back to the village in Wave Country. It was now lunchtime and Miya had once again prepared the food as the other wives weren't that good as cooks. Kazehana was more "specialized" in drinks, Galatea and Miria were barely eating anything due to their particular morphology while Rana and Stella were quite clueless in a kitchen. Miya loved cooking so everyone was happy with that setting.

The Konoha team, mostly the younger ones, were a bit skeptic when it came to the first bite. The memory of their last meal on board the Yamato was still fresh in their mind, they still didn't know how Naruto managed to trick them into believing they were going into cardiac arrest. However, seeing how Inari and Tazuna, being civilians, were eagerly devouring Miya's food, they dropped their guard and enjoyed the meal as well.

"So Anko-san, how was your visit in Kirigakure ? I think you have your answers about them taking part or not in the War." Naruto suddenly asked the Leaf kunoichi, making her choke on her food.

"How did you know about our mission ?" She managed to say, as she regained her composure.

"Well, it wasn't that hard to guess once I knew where you came from. There was also the fact that you were dead set on keeping your identities a secret. Everyone knows that war is coming at your doors, against your old buddies from Kumo and Iwa. Your only choice to win this war is to ally yourself with Kiri, in order to make it a three major villages alliance against two since Suna is with you on this. You had to be discrete about this, so in order to not raise any suspicion, your team was sent to investigate first, before anything could be officially initiated." Naruto said, taking a break to study their reaction, and he wasn't disappointed. The Konoha shinobi were amazed by his accurate analysis of their situation.

"So, how close am I so far ? Warm or cold ?" Naruto asked after a few seconds.

"You're damn hot, if you want my opinion." Anko instantly replied, knowing full well the double meaning of her answer to him. It got the result she wanted as six pairs of hands instantly stopped moving their fork and spoon, while six pairs of eyes latched onto hers. She couldn't help but grin, when she felt the intense glare from all the women of Naruto's crew on her.

"Quite forward, aren't we ? I'm afraid to say I'm already spoken for." Naruto told her with a chuckle as he saw his wives and fiancées resuming their meal in a strange silence.

"From what we've seen, they are not in a position to participate in another war. Their economy is pretty bad and they already lost quite a bit of their former army during that civil war of theirs. My opinion will be transmitted to our council, what they do with it is up to them. Why are you asking anyway ? I'm pretty sure you already knew all that, I've seen your ships come and go all around Kiri, so you must already have a pretty good grasp of their current situation as well." Anko said.

"Well, that was true until yesterday, when I cut all ties with them. Before you ask, here is why I canceled my contract with them." Naruto replied, taking out the newly edited Bingo Book. That version had been updated with the new picture of him. The book had been opened to his page for everyone around the table to see the information mentioned about him. Anko took a moment to study his profile and then gave him back the book.

"Pretty impressive, you're the one who took Yagura down, how did you do it ? Fighting a jinchuriki and winning is no small feat." Anko asked him, still trying to fish out information about the masked man.

"What's a jinchuriki, Sensei ?" Tenten interrupted the conversation, as she didn't understand the meaning of that word. Anko sighed and was about to say something when Naruto cut her off.

"Jinchuriki, literally the Power of Human Sacrifice, are human beings that have bijuu, or tailed beasts, sealed within them. They exhibit extraordinary powers, and in some cases are even more powerful than their tailed beasts, because they have the intelligence to use their beasts' powers effectively. The jinchuriki are typically lonely people, viewed by those around them as the tailed beasts that had been sealed within them, leading to prejudice and being hated and feared." The blond replied before Anko could.

"I believe each major shinobi village always had at least one jinchuriki at their disposal, ever since the Shodaime Hokage gave them away to the other villages as an act of good faith. How come you don't know about your own jinchuriki, girl ? It was my understanding that Konoha had the Kyuubi and that it was sealed into a child that should be around your age." Naruto asked Tenten, without missing a bit of Anko narrowing her eyes at him, after she heard him disclose one of their village's most hidden secret.

"The knowledge about jinchuriki and bijuu has always been a highly classified subject in Konoha, only shinobi above a certain age are aware of the whole thing. I'm not supposed to openly discuss about them with the younger generation, it's a crime punished by death." Anko replied. The current flow of the conversation didn't please Anko so she tried to change the subject, completely forgetting that Naruto never answered her about his fight against Yagura.

"So, now that you don't work with Kirigakure anymore, where will you go ?" She asked Naruto.

"Kiri did represent a big part of our trade agreements in the Elemental Nations, however, it wasn't the only one. We will continue to strive using other parts of the continent such as the lovely town in Wave Country." Naruto said, seeing Tazuna nod in gratitude at him.

The conversation then turned to more trivial subjects and shinobi matters were left aside for the remaining of the trip.

* * *

**Konohagakure – Council Chamber**

* * *

The journey from Wave Country back into Fire Country and then to Konoha had been less eventful than the other way around for Team Anko, as their leader now stood inside the Council Chamber. The kunoichi was currently being debriefed by her superiors as they were going through the report she wrote about the mission in Kirigakure.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped down and with Danzo's rise to power, the High Council of Konoha changed. The civilian representatives and the elders, both parties whose support allowed the War Hawk to seize the Hokage's seat, now had a permanent say in all matters that concerned the village, military affairs included.

The shinobi representatives were still there of course, however, they didn't have the power to do as they please anymore since they also needed to consult with the Elders and Civilians representatives from now on, before any decision. Currently among them in the room, was Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shibi, Inuzuka Tsume, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza and Sarutobi Asuma. The only empty seats were those from the Senju and Namikaze representatives.

"So, according to your reports, there is nothing for us to gain from an association with the Hidden Mist at this point." Danzo asked Anko without looking at her, his eyes still scanning the content of her report.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Most of their citizens are quite poor and can barely manage to survive. Their army is reduced to the absolute minimum they need to defend their village, they couldn't mount an invasion force even if they wanted to. Finally their Kage is a young woman, going by the name of Terumi Mei, she seems inexperienced but the people around talked about her with lots of respect." Anko replied, not missing the reaction from most of the males inside the room, not believing that a woman should be allowed to become a Kage.

"That's most unfortunate, I really thought that naval fleet of theirs would have been a great asset for us against our enemies in the war. Anyway that brings us to the second part of your report, that man from Wave that supposedly possess a fleet of his own, tell us more about him." Danzo said.

Anko told the Council everything that happened during those meetings between them and Naruto. She had purposely been vague about him in her report, since she basically knew close to nothing about the mysterious blond.

She told them how he transformed Wave from a piss poor country into one of the richest place she had ever been to, thanks to Naruto's merchant fleet and his contacts. Now, that was something that greatly interested the Civilian representatives, since Konoha's economy had been less than good for the past decade and Fire Country had several naval port's towns that could use such help.

The shinobi representatives had been impressed by the man's resume, since Anko took out a Bingo Book she bought and opened it to Naruto's page for everyone to see his profile and the result of his actions. Needless to say, all have been deeply surprised to see who the man had defeated, Yagura, jinchuriki of the Sanbi and former Mizukage of the Hidden Mist himself.

When Anko described the strange powers that the women in Naruto's crew all seemed to possess, added to the fact that Naruto himself, had told her how he canceled his contract with Kirigakure, Danzo was convinced too, that a meeting with that mysterious masked man was necessary. Danzo still valued Strength above everything and this man, this mercenary, seemed liked everything the Leaf was currently looking for.

Konoha needed alliances, yes, but the sort of long time alliance he would have been force to deal with Kiri, like he did with Suna, was not in their best interest. Sure, they would get military help, when asked for but they would also have to provide assistance if the situation was reversed. Added to the fact that those kind of alliances were meant last over time, it was less than favorable in his book, as far as Konoha's freedom of action was involved.

However there was still the matter of convincing that man to work for them, everyone knew that it wouldn't be an easy task. He didn't struck them as someone who would move solely based on the economic factor of the equation, being quite rich already. They needed to present that man with an incentive to come work for them, Danzo suddenly thought of something and signaled an ANBU to his left.

"Summon the other members of Team Seven in this room immediately." The Hokage announced.

"What are you thinking about, Sensei ?" Uchiha Sasuke asked his mentor. It was a well known fact that Sasuke, additionally to being part of Team Seven, had been tutored by Danzo in the shinobi arts throughout his career.

"You and your team will take the mission to go recruit that man into our ranks. Haruno Sakura, like her mother once was, is our best seduction expert. Considering the fact that the man seems to enjoy having women around him, with his all women crew, I think she is what we need for that mission. You, on the other hand, will go and impress that man with your skills. I'm sure that above money, he will come to value power, like us." Danzo replied to his apprentice.

The Uchiha was pleased by his master's reply and from having his ego stroked in front of the whole Council. Team Seven had arrived during Danzo's explaining, and, when they were told of their next mission, Sakura could see the pride in her mother's eyes. Haruno Yuko is a former Konoha kunoichi and seduction expert, now a member of the Civilian representatives since she married a rich civilian man that "mysteriously" died a few months after their marriage. The other members of Team Seven were Sai an orphan that came out of Danzo's previous shinobi training program and Hatake Kakashi as their senior jonin, since Sasuke had already received the title due to his proximity with Danzo.

Some among the shinobi representatives and Anko couldn't help but sigh at what they were seeing. For Danzo, the end justifies the means, such a mission would have never been approved during the other Hokage's reign. The fact that a mission this important for the Leaf was openly discussed with the Civilian representatives was already a mistake.

Anko really didn't want to involve the Savior of Wave Country but she had to follow orders. She took relief in the fact that no matter how skilled the pink haired bitch may be in the seduction arts, she knew the blond wouldn't be swayed that easily. She was of course aware of the rumors about Sakura managing to seduce Sasuke, the Hokage's apprentice and Uchiha scion himself.

That was something else Anko felt sorry about in advance for what she was going to put the masked blond through. Sasuke was one of the worst human being she ever had the "chance" to meet. He was selfish, arrogant and thought of himself as being God's gift to Mankind. The chances for Sasuke ridiculing himself, and the Leaf at the same time, in front of **Kuro Kitsune** were much higher than the Haruno managing to score with the blond.

The mission was approved nevertheless, with the Elders and Civilians representatives' support, it wasn't that hard and there was nothing much the shinobi council could do even if they were against it. The mission would start immediately, since Anko was told when they parted ways that the blond and his crew would remain in Wave for a week before going back toward the sea. By leaving now, they would arrive just in them to prevent them from leaving.

* * *

**Wave Country**

* * *

Team Seven lost no time as they immediately left Konoha after the council meeting. Three days had passed since then and they were finally arriving in Wave Country. True to Anko's report and that picture they had seen in the Bingo Book, the only way to reach Wave was by boat, since the bridge that connected it to the mainland had been destroyed. The ruins of the former bridge were still there, Kakashi and Sasuke could not help but wonder what kind of technique was used to obliterate that gigantic structure to such an extend. All they knew is that the man only used one punch to achieve that result.

The boat trip was a short one and they were now walking through some kind of a local festival. It was the middle of summer so that wasn't so rare, people were partying and enjoying themselves peacefully. The Konoha nins were surprised at how careless they all seemed to be, for such a rich looking village. There was no evidence of guards or shinobi around, only civilians with men and women in **Yukata** with children running around the several stands that provided entertainments.

Upon asking the people around them, Team Seven learned that it was a festival to celebrate the first anniversary of their village being freed from Gato and his men. Their Savior was apparently also in town to attend the festival with his crew, Team 7 smiled at that particular piece of information. They had managed to arrive in time, it seems, and the festival couldn't have been placed at a better time, allowing them to approach their target undetected in order to study him first, well at least that's what they thought ...

* * *

**Tsunami's Inn**

* * *

There was an especially big party going on inside Tsunami's inn as they were celebrating both the return of their Savior but also the success of Tazuna's and Inari's trip to another port village like theirs where the two had found new trading partners for them to do business with.

Naruto and the girls were seated at a big table with lots of food and drinks prepared for them. They were all enjoying the party, especially Rana and Stella, when Naruto and the four older ones had to suddenly stop what they were doing and looked at each other.

Naruto nodded to Kazehana, to which the purple haired beauty slowly faded away, blending in the crowd. The party was never interrupted since the blond and his wives had been quite discrete about this. Not even a minute later, the Konoha team was spotted inside the inn as they went to seat at a table not too far from Naruto's.

They saw that Team Seven had made the effort to at least disguise themselves to not appear like shinobi but they still stood out from the rest of the crowd since in Wave, the people were not that numerous and consequently knew everyone. Tourists had become an usual occurrence so no one found them suspicious, they just stood out.

The party went on for a little bit when Kazehana suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bumped into Sakura, who was returning to her table with drinks for her teammates. The drinks were all spilled on the pink haired kunoichi and she was completely soaked. Kazehana faked her surprise and started to profusely apologize to her unfortunate "victim".

"What's going on, Kazehana ?" Naruto asked as he appeared at her side.

"I'm sorry Captain, I wasn't looking and I bumped into this young lady and made her drop those drinks on herself." Kazehana explained.

"I'm sorry for what my companion did, your clothes are all dirty now. The rooms here and through the entire town are all occupied because of the festival, let me invite you on my ship where you can take a shower and change clothes, miss ?" Naruto said as he helped her up to her feet.

"Sakura, my name is Haruno Sakura." She replied, not able to hide the blush on her face at how gentle this man seemed to be with her.

"Well, Sakura-san, what do you say ? Your friends are welcome too, of course." Naruto asked her.

"I will gladly accept, sir ?" Sakura replied.

"You can call me **Kuro Kitsune**." Naruto said, as he and his girls led the way toward the Yamato, with a smirk on his face.

"_Phase two is now active ..."_ He thought, as they made their way back to the ship.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now, folks.

* * *

No action this time, since we had lots of that already in the past chapters. People were starting to wonder about Konoha and stuff, I hope you're glad to see them back into the picture. As said in description, this story will feature diverse levels of bashing for Konoha so if you don't like it, well you're ready the wrong story, I'm afraid.

Now, that was only a peak at the Leaf, I know. More will be revealed as we go further in the story.

Give me lots of feedback, I like to know what works for you readers and what doesn't. Reviewing helps to improve this story so don't hesitate.

This will be my last release this week, going on a short vacation and I'll be back next week so enjoy and don't forget, Read and Review.


	6. Hidden Skills

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

I'm finally back, that week of vacation truly went by too fast. Anyway, I'm glad I still have many readers and reviewers with me so far, the previous chapter marked the return of Konohagakure on stage with the appearance of dear old Team Seven. Sakura as a seduction mistress was pretty well received, we obviously all know how it will affect Naruto so there was no worry on that point.

No one commented on the energies rating so far so I guess I'll continue using those terms and scales for them. Feel free to leave remarks about those if you have problems with them, I'm pretty open to discussion about them.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 6 : Hidden Skills  
**

* * *

**Yamato Flagship**

Naruto and his crew had escorted Team Seven back on board the Yamato, where Sakura was given access to a private cabin. The Leaf kunoichi was taking a shower while her team waited for her on the ship's deck, with Naruto and his women carefully looking after them without being too obvious. She was done quite fast, reappearing all cleaned up just a moment later, much to everyone's relief, since they were all waiting for her to come back in order to start their real mission.

"There she is, I apologize once again for my companion's actions, she had a little too much to drink and wasn't looking at where she was going." Naruto said, making the first move upon seeing Sakura joining them on the deck.

"That's fine really, no one's harmed and you even allowed me to use a private room on your ship. It is the biggest ship I have ever been on, you must be quite a powerful man to own such a wonderful ship." She replied, doing her best to sound genuinely impressed while she stroke his ego. She was told that men loved it when women were acting this way. She remembered how well this worked on Sasuke, as she praised the size of his compound or the might of his skills.

"Thank you, now please follow me inside and let me offer you and your team something to drink, to compensate for those you dropped at the inn earlier." Naruto said, not reacting to Sakura's attempts in order to seduce him. The kunoichi frowned, she didn't think her target would be so hard to get to, especially since she took the opportunity to change into one very revealing outfit of hers. She had even tried to bend over a little, revealing _some_ cleavage to the masked man's eyes while talking in a sultry tone and despite _all_ this, nothing seemed to work. Naruto was not charmed in any way by her and Sakura had to put her seduction attempt on hold for the moment.

Team Seven followed after Naruto inside the ship, as the blond led them to the dinning room. They were all briefed about the masked man and how he dealt with Anko and her team when they were "offered" a drink as well, with the false poisoning and the psychological effect it had on them. They shared a moment of doubt, when the time came to drink but had to move on, not wanting to sound suspicious towards their host. After five minutes and no signs of being poisoned whatsoever, they finally relaxed a bit and lowered their guard. Sakura tried her chance again with Naruto but failed miserably, missing the smirks on each and every one of Naruto's women when the blond completely ignored her.

"So, travelers, what brings you in this lovely part of the Elemental Nations ?" Naruto asked his first serious question after some previous empty talk to ease the mood.

"You don't seem to be a member of this town, how did you know we were travelers ?" Kakashi tried to ask while keeping a neutral tone, answering Naruto's question with a question of his own.

"Well that's easy, I do a lot of business around with the citizens of Wave and come here quite often. I know pretty much everyone here and never saw any of you before today." Naruto replied quickly. Seeing his host waiting for him, Kakashi decided to give Naruto the reply to his question.

"To answer your question, we were in fact looking for you, Kuro-san. I am Hatake Kakashi and here is Team Seven, you already know Haruno Sakura, the other two are Uchiha Sasuke and Sai. We are shinobi from the Leaf and our leader wishes to speak with you. We would like for you to assist us in the war against our enemies, as a subcontractor, very much like you did for Kirigakure during their civil war." Kakashi said as he analyzed Naruto's demeanor throughout his report. He couldn't find anything of use as Naruto remained perfectly still and silent, not betraying any emotion about the odd request he just received.

"I guess you knew where to find us when Anko-san and her team were debriefed, we did tell them we would stay here for a week after all. Now, she should have also reported that I am first and foremost a businessman, why should I even consider putting mine and my crew's safety in jeopardy for your village ?" Naruto asked, not missing the scowl on Sasuke's face. It was beneath an Uchiha to beg for some stranger's help. Sakura was still angry at her failed attempt to seduce the blond and Sai, well, he seemed completely unconcerned. Kakashi decided to intervene before Sasuke could snap and ruin their chance to convince the masked man to help them.

"Our leaders were impressed by your skills. You just name your price, whether it be money, power, or anything you want that we may have the ability to grant you, Konoha is willing to cover any expense in order to have your backing in this matter. This is the offer I was allowed to present to you." Kakashi announced, not missing the stunned looks on his teammates' faces.

"That's a most intriguing offer. For your leaders to extend such a deal, they must either believe that I am that powerful, or your village's situation has become desperate enough for them to promise such a thing. Nevertheless, you've earned at least my attention, I will go and directly negotiate with your Hokage." Naruto replied with a smirk hidden behind his face mask.

"Not so fast !" Sasuke suddenly yelled, jumping from his seat. Kakashi just sighed and was about to stop the Hokage's apprentice when Sasuke found himself restrained by four blades aiming at vital points of his body.

Miya, Kazehana, Miria and Galatea had appeared all around him at blinding speed and currently had their swords ready to neutralize the hot blooded Uchiha. The ninja from Konoha couldn't help but look with widened eyes as their comrade was about to get himself killed. Naruto raised his arm, signaling his wives to stand back while he calmly looked at Sasuke.

"What seems to be the problem, Uchiha ?" Naruto asked in a neutral tone, though no one could see the grin on his face hidden by his mask.

"I don't trust that Snake Bitch's report, before we allow you to go in Konoha and present yourself before our High Council, I want to witness your so called power with my own eyes. Fight me in a duel and we'll see if you're worthy of our offer." Sasuke said, with anger in his voice.

"Hmm, so you are a bit of a businessman yourself, still, I wouldn't want to bank on some stranger's powers without taking a good look for myself first as well. Fine, come with me, I'll show you who your village is trying to hire." Naruto said as he left the room, his women and the Konoha shinobi following right after him.

* * *

**Forest area outside Wave Village**

* * *

Naruto's group and the Konoha team had gone outside the village for that little demonstration, not wanting to disrupt the festival and ruin the mood with their visitors' bad manners. They were now inside a forest with Naruto and his girls staying on one side while the Leaf shinobi were on another side.

Naruto and Sasuke made their way toward the center of the area, standing face to face. Despite the first impression he had from Sasuke, Naruto decided to be respectful of his opponent and bowed as a sign of respect. His gesture was met with the raven haired man's contempt, as Sasuke remained in his position and smirked.

Seeing the obvious sign of disrespect, the girls from Naruto's side were ready to jump in and kill the Uchiha but the blond simply sighed and raised a hand toward them, asking them to stand down for the moment.

"Alright Uchiha, let's keep this clean, everything goes but no killing blows." Naruto announced as he saw Sasuke going into his Uchiha taijutsu style, activating his **Sharingan** eyes and waiting for Naruto to move with a conceited face.

"I guess we'll go for taijutsu spar then." Naruto said as he leaped toward his opponent and started to attack him. The blond was fighting with regular punches and kicks, testing the famed prediction abilities of the Uchiha's doujutsu. Sasuke clearly showed his mastery in his family style and how it perfectly used the **Sharingan** to its fullest, not allowing Naruto any openings while placing several hits of his own against his opponent.

"Hmm, so that's the famous **Sharingan**, impressive abilities indeed." Naruto mused out loud as he jumped back, creating some distance with Sasuke but not showing any signs of being tired though. Kakashi and Sai remained focused, knowing that the masked man was only testing Sasuke so far. Sakura though, didn't seem to grasp the situation and started to wildly cheer for Sasuke, completely oblivious to the disapproving looks that were cast on her by the rest of the audience.

The blond then fell into some strange taijutsu stance that none of younger Konoha nins managed to recognize. Kakashi, however, dropped his jaw as he saw Naruto's form, remembering a scene from the time when he was still a genin.

"_That form … could it be ? No that's impossible but ... Where would he learn it ? It doesn't make any sense."_ Were his thoughts as he activated his own **Sharingan** in order to ascertain the validity of his assumption. Naruto was in a crouching position, close to the ground level and had his fists raised in front of his face with both palms pointing toward Sasuke.

The young Leaf jonin took the initiative this time and charged toward the blond, expecting the same result as previously. However, he was quite surprised when out of nowhere, Naruto managed to land a hit on him and a vicious one at that, considering the cracking sound he heard when Naruto's knee impacted with his ribcage. The pain he felt from that counter was great, but even greater than that was his surprise at not being able to predict his opponent's hit.

The women from Naruto's crew couldn't help but smirk at their captain's success while the Konoha team stood dumbfounded, as they saw their most promising jonin so easily countered. This didn't make any sense to Sakura and Sai, Sasuke had the advantage just a moment ago, when the masked man couldn't even touch him. Kakashi however, now knew for sure where he had already seen that fighting style before.

"_There's no mistake about it, that's the Monkey King's Fist. Misdirection, the primary ability of that style. No matter how trained a warrior may be, our body is programmed to react in a certain way towards impending threats. The Monkey King's Fist uses that flaw in the human body with its highly realistic feints and then allows its users to place critical hits against their opponents. The way that man used his knees or elbows is also a key point for that style, those are the most effective parts of the body in order to inflict maximum damage."_ The elite jonin analyzed in his mind while looking at the fight.

Burning in anger, Sasuke stood back up and ran toward Naruto again, his **Sharingan** still activated. His opponent simply stood there and waited for him to get into striking range and launched another devastating counter against him. This time Naruto managed to elbow Sasuke behind his head, a hit that would have been enough to kill the Uchiha if the blond so desired. Fortunately for the Konoha team, Naruto held back his power and deflected his blow at the last moment, choosing to instead knock out the arrogant fool for this time.

"_Our **Sharingan** is completely useless against that style, since it amplifies that instinctive reaction's flaw, focusing our attention on the feint instead of the real attack. The form itself is quite impossible to copy, as the moves appear as a set of complete random attacks with no link nor logic behind and between them. There has only been one man that has ever mastered that style throughout the ages, the man praised as the Kami no Shinobi in his prime. Also said to have studied and learned every single jutsu and style that has ever been created in Konoha since its foundation, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage. How could that man come by such a style, is it possible the Sandaime taught him ?" _Kakashi wondered as he ordered Sakura and Sai to go retrieve their unconscious teammate.

"Well I guess he won't need to _test_ my skills any further than that." Naruto said with a chuckle.

"I've seen enough of your skills, forgive my subordinate for his rudeness, he's not used to meeting stronger people than him and that made him grow arrogant. I hope his confrontation with someone like you will bring him back into reality." Kakashi replied to Naruto, not wanting to confront the blond on how he knew such a taijutsu form, at least not while they were in a hostile territory. That could wait until they are back in Konoha.

"Please allow me to invite you and your team on board our ship for the night. Your teammate will remain unconscious until tomorrow, so we'll have to wait for him to wake up before we leave for Konohagakure anyway." Naruto said as he led everyone back to his ship.

* * *

**Yamato Flagship**

* * *

Team Seven were escorted to private guest rooms on board Naruto's ship and all went to bed. They were given the same restrictions Team Anko received, allowing them to roam every part of the ship except for Naruto and his crew's quarters.

True to Naruto's words, Sasuke remained unconscious the whole time and was put in a cabin where he could rest. Sakura refrained from trying to seduce Naruto again, as the glares she received from the women of his crew and also his brutal fight against Konoha's _champion_ had instilled some fear into her. Kakashi and Sai had also decided to call it a night early and disappeared into their rooms.

* * *

**Captain's Room**

* * *

Naruto was sitting behind a desk in his room, with all the girls around him. His wives often slept in the same room as him instead of going back to theirs, so it wasn't that rare to see them in his room. Tonight, though, everyone was there, even the younger ones Stella and Rana who usually stayed in their own room. The reason why they held that meeting was to sort out the last details for the plan, since the next day would mark Naruto's first journey back into Fire Country ever since he _left _it so many years ago.

"Konoha uh, it feels like a lifetime ago since I've last been there." Naruto said absentmindedly, his thoughts were set on a few things he still remembered from his time as a Leaf citizen. The Hokage monument was one thing he could still picture in his mind, the rest was lost to him, he even forgot the crappy apartment where he used to live after he was kicked out of the orphanage.

"Are you sure you want to go through all this, honey ?" Miya asked him, as she placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, trying to bring him some comfort. It obviously worked since Naruto felt slightly better and seemed to relax a bit after that.

"You all know what the stakes are here, I can't afford to back out from this, there's no going back." Naruto replied with determination, reassuring the girls.

"If that's your wish then so be it, but you should know that the Leaf jonin suspected something as he observed you fighting that arrogant fool earlier. His chakra signature greatly fluctuated when he saw you use that taijutsu form to destroy your opponent." Galatea reported her findings to the group.

"Arara, and here I thought that fighting stance was lost to anyone but you and your teacher. I guess some people aside from us still remember those moves." Kazehana mused.

"When are you going to teach me that style, Naruto-kun ?" Rana asked in a childish tone.

"What ? Naruto-kun promised me he would be training me next, wait your turn Rana !" Stella said.

Naruto had to chuckle at the pair, always enjoying Rana and her spontaneous behavior and reactions while Stella was a lot more reserved and only spoke for herself once her friend / rival already did.

"Would you two stop that ! We are in the middle of an important meeting. What do you plan to do, should they find out who you are before it's time to properly announce your return in the Elemental Nations ?" Miria said as she silenced the younger girls.

"You worry too much, my lovely Miria-chan. This style is not so easily grasped and there are some special circumstances needed in order to learn it, that's why they can't counter nor copy it, even with their special eyes. Granted, I used it thinking that no one alive could possibly recognize it but if they confront me about it, there are many ways around the truth without exposing ourselves or sensei too much." Naruto replied.

"What's that old fool doing anyway ? It's been an eternity since we last heard of him." Miya asked.

"Ha ha, I'd like to know that as well, Miya-chan. He'll let us find him when he's ready to be found out, you know how he is … Anyway there's one last thing I need to say before we stop for tonight." Naruto replied.

"What is it, Naruto-kun ?" Miya said.

"I'm sorry if I can't show signs of affection to any of you in public. You all know how I love you but I can't let them use your relations to me in order to harm us. We will have to keep a low profile for a little bit longer, I hope you can forgive me." Naruto told the girls. They all looked at him as if he grew another head and then smiled.

"Now that's you who worry too much, my dear husband." Miria teased him back.

"We all followed you knowing your plan, you don't need to worry about such thing. As long as we know where your heart is, that's all what matters to us." Kazehana added.

"Anyway, let's call it a night. The Leaf nins are all sound asleep and so should we, the road back to Konoha will be a long one." Galatea said as everyone nodded. She had to make sure no one would try to eavesdrop on their meeting, so she finally released her sensor technique after that.

* * *

**Konohagakure – Front Gates**

* * *

The trip back to the Hidden Leaf was every bit as they expected it to be, with Sasuke's continuous attempts to fight Naruto again, once he woke up. Apparently he didn't learn a thing from the fight, stating that his opponent had a couple of lucky cheap shots at him. Naruto humored him once or twice, always using the Monkey King's Fist and frustrating the Hokage's disciple to no end as he couldn't counter nor copy the moves even with his **Sharingan**.

Sakura also tried her chance at seducing the masked man again, even with their mission of bringing back to the Leaf successful, she was also frustrated that a man dared resist her _womanly_ charms. It also motivated her to know the man easily bested Sasuke, one of the most promising shinobi of her village. Unfortunately for her, she failed again, under the amused eyes of the women from Naruto's crew.

Kakashi and Sai remained quite discrete during the whole trip back, each of them having different things to report to their superiors about the blond and his crew. Naruto thought Kakashi would try to approach him and learn where he had been taught the Monkey King's Fist but the gray haired ninja did nothing of the sort. The group now stood in front of the imposing main gates of Konohagakure.

"Welcome to the Leaf, ladies and gentleman." Kakashi announced.

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**A/N : **That's it for now. Please Read and Review.

* * *

There you go, the first confrontation between Naruto and Team Seven. This is still considered as light bashing in my book, as far as Sasuke and Sakura are concerned. We'll see how it goes from there. I'm pretty neutral toward Kakashi though for now.

What did you think of the counter to the **Sharingan** this time, not as flashy as the one I used for Kaze no Kami, hopefully still believable enough. I was really tempted to give Naruto the Drunken Fist for a moment but decided against it, only Rock Lee or maybe his sensei can pull that off. As funny as it may seem to have a Drunken Fist using Naruto, it really doesn't fit with his persona in my opinion.

I've given several hints at who Naruto's sensei could be, shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Once you get the answer, it also gives you a chance to guess what type of weapon he will use, though it will still come out with a twist, you know me. Flashback will start to come out as well, in order to give a better understanding of Naruto's current skill set.

Now before anyone starts to complain, Naruto is not looking for a citizenship in Konoha, this is all part of a greater scheme ... I know several of you don't want him to involve himself with the Leaf but there's a reason behind his presence there, believe me, it's not some naive motivation that brought him back.

I see that people are still asking about the final woman, however, as I already said she won't be revealed just yet. I'm not confirming nor denying anything about her until the time comes for her to be announced.

How's the story pace so far ? Too slow, too fast, good enough ? Give me inputs. Finally, and as I said before, release rate is more like this, once a week and most likely on weekends.


	7. The Deal

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

Well first of all, many people found out who Naruto's teacher was with the several hints I gave in the previous chapter. The answer was indeed Hiruzen Sarutobi, why else would I have him leave Konoha if it wasn't to go find our favorite blond. One person also found out which weapon I will have Naruto use, granted, with a little help on my part. I'll let you guys find out when it'll be time for him to use it.

Now, onto the Monkey King's Fist, it was fairly well received as well. I am once again using the same trick in order to bypass the **Sharingan**. In Kaze no Kami, I used the manipulation from the external world in order to make those eyes see a false reality. In this story though, the targeted element was the brain, using the human body and its instinct. In both cases, the eyes are working perfectly fine, however, a doujutsu is only as good as the mind of its wielder. Anyway, I was just trying to come out with something better than the magical seal or eyes that nullify the doujutsu :)

Got mixed feedback about the story's pace, I purposely took things a bit slower than in my previous work. It's still in experimentation and I may change the pace again to go faster or slower depending on the occasion. Now that they are back in the Leaf, you can expect some character development in the upcoming chapters for those who think this goes too slow.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 7 : The Deal**

* * *

**Konohagakure – Front Gates**

Naruto's mind was assaulted with memories from his childhood as he walked to the Village's Gates with Team Seven and his crew. Everyone around was looking at him and the girls, since they did stand out quite a bit. It was certainly an uncommon sight, Naruto with his face mask and the white clothes being escorted by three pairs of women, two in front, two at his sides and two behind him.

Miya and Kazehana were in the front, in their perfectly identical black uniforms and both had their katana strapped to their waist. Next were Stella and Rana walking at Naruto's side, also in matching uniforms. Theirs were light purple and were composed of a skirt and a blouse which had a black fox drawn on their shoulders. They didn't seem to hold any weapon. Finally, at the back were Miria and Galatea, in their dark gray uniforms with their large swords on their back.

If Miya, Kazehana or even Rana could be considered as beauties, their morphology was not so far from the Konoha women. Miria, Galatea and Stella though, really stood out with their blond hair and the silver eyes for the first two. All six had the bodies of goddesses, which obviously caught the attention of many males along the way.

"Team Seven, returning from a mission with guests, Hokage-sama will be expecting us." Kakashi announced to the chunin guarding the Gates. Seeing that everything was in order, the guards let the group through. They made their way toward the Hokage Tower, choosing to take the rooftops since they didn't need the extra attention they were already getting.

Despite not being ninja, every member of Naruto's crew had no problem to follow Team Seven to their destination. The women held a grace in their movements that showed they did not receive any formal kunoichi training. Nevertheless, they had proven that they could perfectly travel at a ninja's pace during the trip back into Fire Country, never showing any sign of tiredness.

As they were jumping from roof to roof, Naruto suddenly tripped and lost his balance, making him fall from a tall building. He was immediately helped by Rana and Stella while the other four stayed in their spots. Team Seven and especially Sasuke were surprised by this but chose to remain silent. Naruto jumped back on top of the building, saying he didn't pay attention to his footing and then the group resumed their trip.

It was midday and they could see several other Leaf shinobi jumping around them. Some of them were curious and observed Naruto and his girls while others just went on their way, paying them no mind. Nevertheless, the military presence all around the village was a lot more pronounced than it was in Kirigakure. This was clearly an up and running shinobi village, strongly militarized, just as the rumors about Konohagakure said.

* * *

**Kage Tower**

* * *

As they finally reached the Kage Tower, and with Team Seven being on a high priority mission, the group could get a direct audience with the Hokage. The truth is that Danzo already knew they were coming, he had a team of ANBU following them as soon as they set foot in Konoha. Upon arriving in the waiting room before the Hokage's office, one ANBU team was waiting for them and directed Naruto and his escort toward the meeting room instead.

The blond took one last glance toward the office where he used to fool around with his Jiji, a room that was among the rare places in Konoha where he could feel safe. Looking around he noticed that everyone was waiting for him to move, he took a second to regain his composure and then followed after the ANBU team with the girls in tow.

* * *

**Council Room**

* * *

The Council room was located on the last floor of the same building, so it didn't really take that much time to reach it. The ANBU stopped at its doors, opening them for Naruto and his escort, closing them after the guests went through and then standing in attention in front of them afterward. However, another platoon was also waiting for them inside the room, protecting the High Council.

The room was pretty big, seats were placed in a circle around the central area reserved to the guests and they were organized in four levels. To the highest level, overseeing everyone below them, were the Hokage and his advisers, the Elders. Three people currently occupied those seats, among them was Shimura Danzo, the Godaime Hokage, and the Elders were the shinobi and kunoichi from the same generation as him, Kohahu and Homura.

The next floor, just below the first one, was reserved to the shinobi council members. Among them were most of the Clan heads, which obviously included Uchiha Sasuke who went to take his seat between the Hyuga and the empty Senju seats. The only other empty seat was the Namikaze one, it had remained empty for the last twenty one years, ever since tragedy took away their last known member, Namikaze Minato. An old law prevented it from being replaced by another family for at least three generations, that was done to make sure a dying clan was indeed dead before their seat was definitely removed. As such the Senju seat was about to be removed and the Namikaze one still had another ten years before its expiration date.

The third floor was reserved to the civilian representatives, it was the most crowded one too. They had gained power by supporting Danzo's rise to power. Even if none of them realized they were manipulated by the Godaime, they still held some power in the decisions concerning Konoha. The power of having a say in the governance of their village was what they always sought to get in the past, during the previous Kage's reigns and that is what allowed Danzo to coexist _peacefully_ with them up until now, even if it was only an illusion.

Finally, at the ground level was the space reserved for the guests. The room was built that way, in order for the Council to _look down_ on their guests, a psychological way to establish dominance. That's precisely where Naruto and the girls were led to, having to look up to their hosts, to see the High Council of Konohagakure in all its glory.

"Team Seven, returning from our mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi announced as he, Sakura and Sai were standing near the Doors. They were not the guest nor did they have a right to seat in any seats within the room.

"Report." Danzo simply replied, not taking his eyes of Naruto and his girls.

"As per your orders, Team Seven went to Wave Country in order to extend the Council's offer to the man named Kuro Kitsune that Team Anko wrote about in their reports. We made contact with our target three days after we left the village and, after a test of strength performed by your apprentice, Uchiha Sasuke, Kuro-san accepted to come here in person to negotiate the conditions of his contract with Konoha." Kakashi reported to the entire room.

"I see, what about your mission, Haruno Sakura ?" Danzo asked.

"I'm sorry, I failed Hokage-sama." Sakura replied keeping her head down, not daring to look back at her leader nor to her mother in the civilian representatives. Failure was not easily accepted, neither from Danzo nor from her mother and she knew she would most likely hear about it again later.

Naruto was starting to feel annoyed, they were speaking as if he was not even present in the room. He knew more or less what Sakura's mission was about, with the pink haired kunoichi trying a few times to get inside his pants, never to succeed. By doing this, they most likely wanted to get a way to influence his decisions in the upcoming negotiations. Nevertheless, Naruto displayed a calm and collected behavior on the outside, not wanting to give in to his hosts, it was fair game since he kinda did the same thing with the two Konoha teams that visited his ship after all.

"Welcome to Konohagakure, I am Shimura Danzo, Godaime Hokage and this is our village's High Council. May I ask who is traveling with you, Kuro-san, and is there any other name we could call you ?" Danzo finally spoke, acknowledging Naruto's presence.

The blond narrowed his eyes at the hidden meaning behind Danzo's question, two strategic points were raised, his true name as well as the identities of the girls. This man was certainly skilled in the arts of interrogation, Naruto knew he would have to be careful in his answers around this person.

"A name is of no consequence in the matter at hand, you may call me whatever you wish, even that name in the Bingo Book is good enough. The women around me are my personal escort, they act as my body guards as well as my counselors. Now, proceed with your proposal, I have only heard part of what it entailed and came here in person to see for myself." Naruto replied in a neutral tone, not betraying any emotions behind his mask.

Whispers were heard all around, as the representatives studied the man in the center of the room. It was certainly uncommon to have someone not bending to Danzo's every wish. This time, Danzo was the one narrowing his only visible eye toward Naruto, this was indeed a man not used to being told what to do nor was he stupidly answering questions with no control over his emotions, very much unlike his own apprentice, Danzo had to admit.

"You will answer the questions Hokage-sama asked you, or face the consequences." The shinobi rep with a haircut in the shape of a duck ass suddenly yelled, confirming his master's previous opinion about his lack of control over his emotions.

"Did you receive some kind of a head trauma from the fight you lost to me, Uchiha ? Or maybe my hearing is failing me, as I almost heard you say that you were demanding things from me. I will now remind the _honorable_ members of the council that anything you say within these walls shall be used in the consolidation of the contract you so much desired with me." Naruto replied.

"Very well, what do you want, Kuro-san ? No one is to speak up again without being invited to, am I clear ? Those who disobey will _face the consequences_." Danzo spoke the last part of his sentence while looking at Sasuke, clearly signifying him to shut the hell up. The Uchiha seethed in anger and remained silent, not wanting to cross his master.

"Straight to the point I see, fine by me. I want a copy from your scroll of forbidden kinjutsu. Before any of you start yelling in outrage, let me say this. You have nothing to offer me that I don't already have, that is the price of my services and I'm not settling down for anything else than this." Naruto said, looking straight into Danzo's eye.

The entire room turned silent, waiting in anticipation for their Hokage's reply to such a demand. The War Hawk never broke eye contact with Naruto, studying his every move as if the blond was a prey for him to feast on.

"Let's imagine I would allow that deal to happen, it's only fair you tell me what you seek inside that scroll. After all, that's one of our most precious treasure, it holds many secrets that were put in there by my predecessors. Put in the wrong hands, it could in turn become one formidable weapon against us." Danzo said, not caring about the looks of disbelief from the council members around him.

"Believe it or not, I have more gold than I could possibly spend in several lifetimes. I once lived as a slave and shall not allow anyone to ever become mine. Finally, I'm not interested in friendship or love, those are useless emotions, not fit for a man in my position. Power and knowledge, however, are things I seek, a man in your position should understand this better than anyone else. That scroll does represent the ultimate knowledge your village has to offer and that's why I want a copy of it." Naruto replied.

"I see, before I give you an answer, tell me what would Konoha gain from having you as a partner ? What difference would your participation bring in our conflict against Oto, Kumo and Iwa ? I will need more than your profile in the Bingo book or you defeating my student to grant you access to our most sacred scroll." Danzo told him.

"Well for starters, how do you even plan to win a war against an enemy that owns at the very least four jinchuriki, while you only have the Ichibi, a highly unstable host if my spies are accurate ? I heard that you even lost your own jinchuriki fifteen years ago, and while I don't know why or how it happened, I can see that the odds don't look so nice from your point of view. Well, I am the one who killed Yagura, jinchuriki of the Sanbi, so I think my help would be greatly appreciated in that department." Naruto started, seeing many head nodding at his reasoning.

"I know for a fact that you are not only facing two of the Great Five Villages, but that minor village of Otogakure as well. Orochimaru was once among the very best of your warriors, since he and his teammates were one of the reasons for your village's successes in the previous shinobi wars. Said team is currently MIA, in fact you haven't heard of them in decades. Your opponent, however, has several veteran shinobi in its ranks while your side also lacks in that field. Me and those who fight alongside with me have years of experience in fighting such opponents. If you want a proof to back my claim up, anyone among my escort could easily best any of your elite guards that are currently hiding in the walls of this room." Naruto added.

"We shall see for ourselves then, I'll consider the deal if you are victorious, otherwise you will all perish for making me lose my time." The Godaime announced.

Danzo felt insulted by this, yet, his curiosity compelled him to really consider the blond's words. He silently raised a hand and then snapped his fingers. Not even a second later, six ANBU leaped out of the walls and went to target each of Naruto's girls individually. Naruto nodded to the women, as the blond chose to sit this one out.

"Fight only to disable, no killing blows." He said with a tone void of any emotion. Stella and Rana stepped in front of Naruto. Seeing the two young unarmed girls, the elite shinobi didn't stop and charged in, ready to go through them in order to get to Naruto.

"**Ereinbar Set !"** Rana and Stella yelled, as the room glowed red and strange markings appeared all around the walls and the ground. The ANBU that were already in the air, instantly fell down on the floor while the others that had yet to move found themselves stuck on their feet.

"What the hell ? Is that fuinjutsu ? Why can't we move ?" Yelled the shinobi, as they tried to move from their spot, not understanding what prevented them from doing so. The two younger girls from Naruto's crew then created weapons for themselves, literally out of thin air, with Stella summoning twin Warglaives while Rana had armored gloves and boots.

"**Accel Turn !"** They both yelled, as they moved toward their opponent at extraordinary speed and started to disable them left and right. It only took but one split second and their battle was already over. The six ANBU that went against them were knocked out and they never even saw where each hit came from.

Silence reigned once more inside the Council Chamber as everyone, with no exception, had their eyes wide open while staring at the two youngest warriors from Naruto's guards. They had just taken down six of Konoha's own elite forces without even breaking a sweat.

Even Danzo was stunned as he saw the battle, right in front of him. Even more surprising than the fact that those ANBU had lost, what really impressed the Godaime Hokage was that those girls' ability, whatever it was, also prevented him and everyone else in the audience to move. Only when they had returned at their leader's side that their technique was lifted.

"What was that, I've never seen anything like this. Was that some kind of a bloodline that allowed them to stop everyone's movements ?" The Hokage asked Naruto with excitement in his voice. He was already thinking about the possible applications for such a power against his enemies and how to force the blond into marrying those girls with shinobi from the Leaf.

"Yes, something very much like that." Naruto stayed as vague as possible but started to frown when he saw the Hokage's calculative gaze on Stella and Rana.

"I will accept the deal with one additional condition, those two warriors are to marry shinobi from my village. I have very suitable candidates for them such as my disciple, as the sole heir to his clan, he has the possibility to take more than one wife. Maybe we could ..." Danzo was already planning in details a schedule for Stella and Rana to produce children with the same abilities when Naruto interrupted him.

"Not happening, old man, those two are already engaged to very powerful allies of mines. Anyway the ball is in your camp, my original offer stays, will you agree to the deal or not, Shimura Danzo ?" Naruto said, not bothering with honorifics or names. He had to hold back a lot in order not to snap and kill everyone in that room when Danzo tried to take Rana and Stella from him as if they were mere objects for him to dispose of.

The War Hawk remained impassive at Naruto's ultimatum. His silence was starting to get annoying for the blond, when Galatea suddenly pulled him back, as her eyes flashed from their original silver state to a golden color as she channeled youki into them.

"He's trying something against us with his hidden eye behind those bandages." She announced as Danzo's only visible eye widened. He immediately stopped what he was trying to do, stood up and then spoke again.

"It would have been so much easier for you, had you remained oblivious. Now I fear that things will get more complicated for you, much more complicated … It would have been easier with your cooperation but I guess we'll have to force your troops to obey us and they will, once they see their leader is our prisoner. You are a fool for coming in here with so few guards to protect you, no matter how strong you all are, you cannot hope to get out of this place alive." Danzo finally announced, as he put a hand on a secret seal under his desk and ANBU instantly started to appear all around the room.

"Don't worry for your women, I'll take good care of them. They will all help me restore the Uchiha clan by strengthening its power with their bloodlines." Sasuke said with a smirk as he went to stand behind his master while ogling the women.

No one could see the smile Naruto sported behind his mask as he looked around him. He went to stand in front of Rana and Stella, holding them back as they were already trying to jump out and raise hell. He gave his four wives a nod and then turned back toward Danzo and Sasuke.

"Did you really think I came in here, risking mine and my guards' lives, without an emergency exit strategy ? Show him what I'm talking about girls." Naruto said.

"**Kori no Sekai / Kamikakushi !"** Galatea and Miria called out as they launched their combination attack in order to stun and disable the first ANBU teams that tried to get closer to their group. As soon as they were done, Miya and Kazehana moved forward.

"**Ikorose, Shinso." **Miya announced as she jumped in the air and reached out for her katana. The audience never saw her unsheathe her blade before performing her swing. All they saw was Miya, landing near Naruto while removing her hand from her sword. Just a second after that, the room started to shift as a clean cut appeared all around the walls, just between the Elder and the shinobi level.

"**Chire, Senbonzakura !"** Kazehana's move finished the work as a gush of wind suddenly appeared and obliterated the walls, just above the cut that Miya had just performed, granting the entire room a panoramic vision of their village.

Naruto did a single Ram hand sign and the entire village started to shake as a tremendous explosion destroyed the Hokage Monument. The blond then started to walk toward the exit of the Council Chamber.

"That's one of the many presents I brought with me, did you really thought I lost my footing on that rooftop earlier ? If you did then you are more of a fool than I thought you to be. Now, I think we're not welcome in this village anymore, so I propose that we leave peacefully, unless you want the next explosion to happen in a more populated or strategic place of your village ?" Naruto spoke to Danzo.

Neither the War Hawk nor the several shinobi working under him dared to move, they had lost and they knew it. They stood, helplessly, as the blond masked man and his escort left the room, making their way toward the village's gates.

"Yeah, that's what I thought ..." Were Naruto's last words as he left the Council Chamber.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now. Please read and review, your opinion matters to me.

* * *

Now, I know it was a short stay in Konoha, some may even wonder what the point was for them to come in there in the first place. No to worry, at least that part will be fully explained in the next issue.

As I've already said to those who had concerns about Naruto joining Konoha or the war, he isn't interested in that, for the moment … We'll see more about his true purpose in the Elemental Nations later.

I am using Miya and Kazehana's uniforms from their time in the Discipline Squad, they both look awesome (and hot) in those. For Miria and Galatea, it's the classic Claymore Warrior uniform, the black one from the Ghost Squad would have been redundant with the first two in black. Finally for Rana and Stella I used the standard school uniform, yes, I know Stella's is supposed to be a bit different but I liked the concept of the matching pairs, furthermore there's a chapter where we see her also in the school 'normal' clothes so deal with it.

Seems like this story is doing quite fine, with an average of nearly 30 reviews per chapter while Kaze no Kami was closer to 20 reviews per chapter. Thanks to everyone for that, I hope it will continue this way.

One last thing, I'm receiving a lot of co-writing or challenges these days, sorry but I am not taking them. I always try to focus on one project at a time, and believe me, it's already hard enough as it is. I guess I'll write something about this in my profile as well …


	8. Race to the Sea

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

Previous chapter received great feedback, readers were surprised and pleased with Naruto not being allied with Konoha, not even faking an alliance in order to do whatever he had to. Some questions were asked about the part of his plan that resulted in the explosion of the Hokage Monument, it will be answered in this chapter.

We will know more about Naruto's quest in the Elemental Nations as well, his reason for coming to Konoha and his next destination. This ties with the seventh and final woman that will join his side, the moment to introduce her is close now. Thanks for your patience, tag for the secondary character will be updated as well after she is involved with him.

Little distracted lately, I've been playing Diablo III quite a lot since its release. It's quite hard to find some time to write with that, but, I'll try to at least keep my release rate and publish one chapter per week as I've been doing so far. I've seen the notice about MA rated content in stories, had to change Kaze no Kami a bit to respect that rule. I saw no reason to add a chapter for that, since the story is quite over. Those I see spamming the first pages with stories that haven't been updated in years with the latest chapter only to mention that petition are a bit funny, well not that I care.

* * *

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 8 : Race to the Sea**

* * *

**Konohagakure – Hokage Office**

Papers were flying everywhere as Danzo trashed his own office, cursing the masked man who had just humiliated him, in front of the whole council no less. Not even a day had passed ever since the meeting, things were slowly getting back to normal with the people of Konoha getting used to not have the Hokage Monument inside their village anymore.

There were only material damages, no lives were lost during the explosion that changed the face of the village. It was too big of an event to possibly be covered up by some petty lies, much to Danzo's regret, the whole world would soon know what that damn blond had done to them.

Unforgivable, he came in here with only six female guards as his escort, they had him cornered and he still managed to escape. It wouldn't be so embarrassing, had he run away with his tail between his legs, but no, he leisurely walked out, never looking back and never worried about anyone going after him. That was the worst, they had to watch him slowly leave the village after he destroyed its symbol of power, the monument dedicated to their previous leaders.

The reason why he was allowed to pass, even with that ultimate humiliation, was because he told them that the Hokage Mountain was only one of the several targets that were booby trapped with explosives. He had threatened to detonate the others if they made any attempt to block his retreat, and, seeing the power behind the first explosion, no one wanted to bet on a possible bluff from his part. Nevertheless, Danzo was the one who let him go, as the leader, so he was responsible for this.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view, it was indeed a bluff from the blond. They found the burnt remains from several dozens of exploding tags laying all around the Hokage Monument but nowhere else around the village. He tricked them, remaining as calm as ever with his poker face on, and, nothing from Danzo's experience nor his hidden powers had allowed him to see through that bluff.

The Godaime was interrupted in his thinking when a poof of smoke inside his office announced the arrival of the people he had summoned. He took a second to regain his composure and then went back into his emotionless leader mode as he spoke with the two new occupants inside his office.

"Kakashi, Shikaku, report !" Danzo barked out as his two subordinates appeared.

Shikaku stepped forward first, heavily sighed and then started to speak.

"I reviewed all the data we had about the incidents that happened yesterday, from the moment those intruders came into the village to the time when they left, directly after their meeting with us in the Council Chamber." Shikaku said.

"Stop beating around the bush, tell me what you found !" Danzo yelled, still angered at the blond.

"It's just as he said, Hokage-sama. According to the witnesses and several observation camera we had in that zone, I think I have a good grasp of what he did. It happened on that rooftop where he seemingly tripped and fell. What actually happened is that the moment he touched the ground, he formed several **Bunshin** and then used **Henge** to camouflage them, using the dust from his fake fall to cover up his tracks. His timing was perfect and since it's a crowded district, those clones easily slipped through any patrol we may have had in that area. The rest after that is quite obvious, they made their way to the monument and discretely planted the tags." Shikaku finished his report and then stepped back, leaving the spot to Kakashi.

"As you ordered, a strike force has been dispatched in order to catch the masked man and his group before they leave Fire Country. I chose the members myself for that mission and, judging by the speed they previously showed during our journey back from Wave, it shouldn't be a problem for our tracking team to intercept them." Kakashi reported to Danzo.

"Who is in that team and who did you pick as their leader ?" Danzo asked.

"Given that most of our forces are deployed near the borders, I had to go with our younger shinobi. The team is composed by Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Hyuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba and finally Uchiha Sasuke as their sole jonin and team leader. I also took the liberty to send out another back up team of chunin after them, just in case." Kakashi answered.

"What's the target's status and last known position ?" Danzo asked again.

"Apparently, instead of going east toward Wave as we thought they would, they are going west. The dogs summon I sent with them just reported that they were near Tanzaku Gai as we speak." Kakashi reported.

"Very well, if you got nothing more to add, then the both of you are dismissed." Danzo said.

"Actually, Hokage-sama, it's about a particular taijutsu form I saw the masked man perform against your disciple ..." Kakashi started. The silver haired jonin then told his leader how Naruto fought in his battle against Sasuke, using an ancient taijutsu style that has not been seen in decades, actually it was something only those close to the previous Hokage knew about.

* * *

**Fire Country – Tanzaku Gai City**

* * *

Naruto and the girls had just gone through the city of Tanzaku Gai, located Southwest of Konoha. It was still midday and the sun was high in the sky, the temperature was quite high and made it harder for them to run.

They had indeed been running non-stop for the last twenty four hours, only taking short breaks for their meal or more personal occupations. The group didn't stop either when they reached the small town, preferring to go around and keep a low profile.

"Naruto-kun, why can't we stop for a little bit ? I know Konoha is trailing us but even if they did catch up to us, we can easily overpower them." Rana whined, she really wanted to visit that city they had just gone through.

"For once I have to agree with her, Naruto-kun. I'm not really tired but I would have like to visit the town we just crossed. Is there any reason we're being so cautious ?" Stella added, not used to agree with Rana.

"Girls ..." Miya started to say, however, Naruto stepped in first. The truth is he didn't tell the two of them the more complicated details of his plan, only his wives knew about them. The reason for that was simple, he needed those two to have genuine reactions when the council of Konohagakure was trying to enslave them.

The result was quite good actually, as Rana and Stella were pretty pissed at Danzo and Sasuke for their ridiculous offer to trade the forbidden scroll for them. Naruto was not sure if they would have played their part so well, had they been made aware of the whole plan beforehand. Of course, he knew Danzo would try something like that once he sees what Rana or Stella could do, Sasuke was also very easy to read.

"I'm sorry, Rana and Stella, I have not been entirely honest with you about our trip in Konoha. It is linked to the reason why we can't take breaks, I will explain everything to the both of you if you let me, but only once we've reached our destination." Naruto explained to them.

"Is this about the scroll you have on your back ?" Stella asked. Ever since they left the Leaf, Naruto had indeed been running while carrying a pretty big scroll on his back. The scroll was blue and it had a big swirl drawn on it.

"Yes, that's the one thing I can't let them know about. Before you ask, no, I can't seal it because it is protected against such actions to prevent anyone from stealing it. The only reason why my clone so easily took it out from that village was because of the confusion from the explosion and also since they had their eyes on us and not him." Naruto replied, getting nods from the two younger girls.

"Let's pick up the pace, I can sense five chakra signatures behind us, we still have time but they're getting closer." Galatea announced.

"Anyone we know of ?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, the Hyuga and Uchiha that visited our ship are among that group. I don't know the other three though." Galatea replied.

* * *

**With the tracking team**

* * *

The Konoha tracking team was also running at full speed, using their knowledge of Fire Country. It was the one thing they had over their target, apart from their speed which was only a bit faster than the masked man's team. Years of mission throughout the country have allowed them to know which path to take in order to catch up faster with their opponents.

They were running in a line formation with Kiba at the front, using his superior tracking senses to follow Naruto's group by their smell. Behind him was the team leader, Sasuke, with his **Sharingan** eyes that looked out for traps. Third was Shikamaru, the tactician and coordinator of the team, his jutsu could be either used as a defense or an offense, depending on the situation. Fourth was Choji, heavy hitter of the group, he would move according to orders given to him from Shikamaru. Last was Neji, covering for their entire rear with his **Byakugan **and its wide range of detection.

Shikamaru sighed as he looked at their group, sure it was composed by very promising shinobi, but there is more than just individual raw skills, especially for this type of mission. If Kiba, Choji and him were friends or at least friendly with each other for having gone through the Academy together, Neji and Sasuke were the problems. Sasuke was the one who decided on the formation, with some inputs from him of course, however the Uchiha would most certainly keep all the glory for himself, should the mission result in a success.

"How far are they from our position, Kiba ?" Sasuke asked the Inuzuka chunin.

"The smell is strong, one hour top, if we continue at this pace and they keep theirs." Kiba answered.

"Judging by the direction they are taking, they are most likely heading for River Country." Choji said.

"What made them go that way ? According to team seven, they left their ship on the other end of the country, near Wave." Neji wondered out loud.

"There's something wrong with all this. I know that they are aware of our group chasing them, since they didn't take any brake nor did they deviate from their path. They are also going west instead of east, where their ship is docked. Even if we were to assume that they hoped, by going that way, to avoid being pursued any further than the borders of Fire Country, there were many other directions to take, especially those leading to our enemies such as Oto or Kumo." Shikamaru analyzed, getting nods from Kiba and Choji while Neji remained neutral and Sasuke just dismissed his warning as the group continued to chase after its target without any plan.

* * *

**With Naruto's group**

* * *

The blond and his group had just crossed the borders of River Country, it had been one hour since Galatea detected the Konoha group when she suddenly stopped running. The group saw that and decided to stop as well, worried about her sudden change of pace. Naruto was the first to reach her as he landed beside the blonde woman.

"What's the matter, Galatea-chan ?" Naruto asked the sensor of his group.

"They're almost here, we have three minutes before they arrive." Galatea answered her husband.

"We have almost arrived at our destination, let's try to outrun them for a little bit more. We'll be fine once we reach the main river, do not engage them, just try to defend and run." Naruto told them.

They ran like this for another two minutes, Naruto looked around to saw that his companions were really getting tired, even the more experienced ones. The younger girls looked exhausted, from all the running they had been doing for the last twenty four hours. It was at this moment that the river finally came into view at the horizon, giving Naruto and his group a moment of relief.

It was short lived as the Konoha team also appeared behind them, slightly winded too but ready to fight nevertheless. Naruto's team continued to run, as he threw out what looked like smoke bombs toward the Konoha shinobi.

"Are you that dumb ? These things have no effects on my **Sharingan**, I bet even the Hyuga can see through it with his lower grade doujutsu !" Sasuke yelled as he ran straight into the smoke cloud as if it weren't there.

Neji narrowed his eyes at the blatant disrespect for his family's doujutsu, but he chose to follow him in the smoke screen anyway. Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru looked at each other before shrugging and going after their _leader_ as well.

"I can see them, straight ahead, they are running toward the main river." Neji called out as he and Sasuke were slowly but surely catching up to Naruto and his girls.

"Wait, damn it !" Shikamaru shouted, too late, as the Hyuga and Uchiha kept on running. The Nara heir couldn't help but find this cloud of smoke weird. First it didn't dissipate and kept on producing more smoke. Secondly, the smoke was green and not black, as the standard ones he had seen used. Finally, the purpose for that masked man to use that screen was strange as well, if he knew Sasuke and Neji would see him with or without the smoke, why would he use it, furthermore, one would expect him to stay and fight them inside the smoke instead of continuing to run, in a straight line no less.

The Leaf chunin took some more steps when his eyes suddenly snapped open and he pulled his two friends back forcefully. The strength behind his pull and the fact they were both running at their full speed made Kiba and Choji momentarily lose their breath as they fell on their butt.

"What the hell, Shikamaru ?" Kiba yelled as he slowly stood up, followed by Choji who had more troubles due to his weaker stamina. Shikamaru was about to answer when a tremendous explosion shook the entire area. The three of them then saw two blurs as Sasuke and Neji were propelled back from whatever had hit them.

The two doujutsu users also slowly stood back, covered in injuries from the first explosion as more explosions erupted all around them. None of them could spot the origin of those attacks, all they saw were small black round rocks, flying at great speed toward them and devastating the ground as they landed. They regrouped with the other three of their team as the bombardment continued.

"What the hell is that ?" Sasuke yelled as he saw more projectiles landing in front and around them.

"It's coming from the sea, I can't determine its origin but their paths suggest they come from there. Small black rocks, launched from the open seas, **Doton** ninjutsu ? But who could launch such long range attacks ?" Neji pondered out loud.

"So much for the all seeing eyes of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, anyway let's retreat ..." Shikamaru started to say when Sasuke interrupted him.

"Are you crazy ! They are right in front of us, as the commanding officer I order you to continue !" The young jonin yelled as his teammates looked back at him with disapproving eyes. Kiba was about to argue when Neji suddenly yelled.

"Take cover, the next one is landing right here !" The Hyuga prodigy shouted and leaped backward, however, he was the only one quick enough to do so as he saw the others still rooted there. He saw in slow motion as the rock approached his team.

* * *

**On board the Musashi**

* * *

Standing on the deck of another ship from the same class as the one Naruto traveled with, was the one and only Sarutobi Hiruzen. Gone, were the eternal clothes the people from Konoha saw him with, he now wore his shinobi clothes that made him known throughout the Elemental Nations as the Kami no Shinobi.

With him was an entire crew of men and women attending the ship, and the source of the Konoha team's current problem, the ship's cannons. What Neji thought to be **Doton** ninjutsu were in fact mechanical weapons that fired those projectiles that were currently stocked on the ship's deck.

"Continue to target the green smoke, that's Naruto's signal." Sarutobi called as he looked at the field with a telescope. He saw the blond and his women making their way toward them on top of whales summons that Naruto most likely called out.

He couldn't see who was pursuing his student with the distance between them but what he saw next surprised him. There was a direct hit coming but it was blocked at the last moment, as a wall of sand suddenly appeared all around and above the pursuers.

"_Well, that's to be expected of them to make a move, I wonder if Danzo is responsible for this ..."_ Hiruzen wondered as Naruto and the girls finally boarded the Musashi.

"Hold fire !" The old man yelled as Naruto and his girls walked to him.

"Hi sensei, it's been a long time, thanks for the save and the lift." Naruto said as everyone on the deck stood in attention when they saw him.

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**A/N : **That's it for now, give me some feedback.

I'm using another Japanese historical warship in the Musashi, after the Yamato. I hope the cannon thing will be well received, I was thinking, what's the point in having a fleet if they can't somehow be used as weapons.

I know some people are expecting character's deaths, don't worry they will come. We're still only the eighth chapter, while I don't know if this story will reach the sixty three chapters Kaze no Kami had, I don't intend to end this anytime soon either.

Well, as I said, writing as become more difficult lately with Diablo and then there's also Rolland Garros and the Euro soccer championship.

As usual please Read and Review.


	9. Lost Blood

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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Well it seems that no one saw a problem in using cannons with Naruto's warships, you don't seem to grasp everything that could be done with gun powder, why stop to the big version and not have guns or even machine guns ? Those are the issues that I was expecting since it could totally ruin the story to have such things introduced, I guess it's fine as it is then …

Reading the reviews I saw some misconceptions, I never said anything about Hiruzen being dead. I was surprised to see that some of you thought he was. His return has been fairly well received so far as well as his new role as a part of Naruto's group.

There was also the fact that the Leaf team managed to catch up with the blond even though they had left hours after he escaped. I did say that the girls never received any form of ninja training, I guess I should have been more specific. So yes, they can undoubtedly match or even surpass a jonin speed but only in instant bursts, however, they weren't trained to run over long distances at full speed. Add to that the psychological effect of knowing you are being hunted, and you have the reason why they were more tired than the shinobi.

I was hoping someone would point out the reference to the 'Sasuke retrieval mission' that is used so often in the stories on this site, with the Duck ass taking our favorite blond's spot. Sadly no one did but, hopefully, I'll try my chance again later :)

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Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 9 : Lost Blood**

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**On board the Musashi**

The Musashi, a warship armed with a dozen cannons and capable of housing up to one hundred men, departed from River Country's shores, just after they got their passengers on board. The men and women from its crew knew what to do, from its maintenance to the different tasks that needed to be performed to accommodate the guests, so Hiruzen was quite relaxed as he went to speak with his former disciple.

Naruto was leisurely sunbathing on the deck of the Musashi, the girls had all gone to sleep after the exhausting trip they had just taken. He would have normally joined them but he had things to speak of, that couldn't wait, with his former teacher. Naruto may have been the supreme commander of the fleet, as he was fully reminded when all the men and women who saw him bowed and saluted their leader, however, he had an absolute faith in his captains' skills and waited for Hiruzen to finish with his duties without interfering before the two of them could discuss privately.

"I take it your mission was a success, judging by the additional 'friends' you brought with you back in River Country." Hiruzen asked, as he took a seat near Naruto.

"That's correct, sensei. I got to admit though, I didn't think they would chase us this far, even inside a foreign country, pretty sure good old Danzo didn't ask the permission from the Daimyo to send his troops inside these lands." Naruto replied.

"It still amaze me they let that old fool take the hat, I was sure either Jiraiya or Tsunade would take it and in the event they didn't, I really thought Kakashi would step up but I guess I was wrong." The older man said without a hint of remorse.

"It seems like you don't care about the fate of Konoha, it was still your responsibility not that long ago, don't you have any afterthoughts, especially after seeing what it became ?" Naruto asked, this was something he always wondered, whether or not the old man regretted his choice in leaving the village ten years ago to go look for him.

"Let me tell you something, my predecessors, the Shodaime and Nidaime both died young, leaving behind them their legacies and a mission to me, their successor, to protect the villagers and the next generation. I, in turn, did the same with your father, but we both know what became of it, so I had to retake the hat for a time since the village was in ruins. When I felt the village was at peace again, I decided to trust in the next generation again, trust in their Will of Fire, so I stepped down and went to accomplish one last mission, one I had received from another Kage, you father. They should have stood up and not let someone like Danzo, a phantom of the past, seize the power. Their Will of Fire died down and all that happens to them from there is not my responsibility anymore." Hiruzen said.

"I see, I guess it makes sense but what about your family ? It's been ten years since you last saw any of them. Why chose me over your son or grandson ? Don't misunderstand me, I really appreciate all the things you did for me, I'm just curious." Naruto asked.

"It's just as you said, they are together and can depend on each other. Konohamaru, like his uncle, is being treated like a VIP just because he's related to me while you were … , well you get my point." The old man replied. He then took notice of the scroll strapped to his student's back.

"So that's it ? The Uzumaki sacred scroll, a record of all the knowledge created during the reign of the Uzumaki Clan and the reason you risk exposure to Konoha ?" Hiruzen asked, still eying it. This was the first time he ever saw it.

Naruto's mother and Mito Uzumaki before her, were very secretive about it. All he knew was that it contained everything the Uzumaki Clan ever created, in terms of technological or jutsu advances. It could have been enough to earn the interest of any leader in the world, since their knowledge in the fuinjutsu field was quite impressive, however Naruto was not seeking the scroll for that purpose. He was told by Hiruzen about his Uzumaki origins and also that some others like him sharing the blood of his ancestors may still be alive.

Indeed, after the destruction of their village, Uzushiogakure, the survivors fled in several directions, trying to escape from their enemy. Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto's mother, was not among them since she was sent early on to the Leaf in order to live with Mito. According to Hiruzen, the older woman was obsessed with finding survivors from her clan, and, as the head of the Senju clan, she devoted a lot of time and resources into that quest. Hiruzen thought the scroll could also contains the record of her findings.

Naruto was not back here in the Elemental Nations for power nor revenge, he was here to find out whether or not he still had people he could call his family, sharing the same ancestors as him. This was a long shot and he knew it, but growing up alone, family was the one thing he respected above all. Of course he had formed his own family over time, but in the event someone was still out there, alone or suffering like he did, he wanted to be there for that person. His new family and the people currently following his lead understood that and came with him knowing the risks.

"It's got several seals protecting it against stealing or unauthorized reading. First there's the anti seal protection, a classic one. Then it gets more complicated, a anti genjutsu protection, against the use of **Henge** to hide it most likely." Naruto started to analyze the scroll.

"Mito sure was someone that knew how to protect her possessions." Hiruzen said with a chuckle as Naruto continued to study the scroll.

"Next comes the truly interesting part, there is an active blood seal, the variant of the classic blood analyzing one. Only a living Uzumaki with a regular heartbeat will be able to unlock the scroll by applying his or her blood on that seal. This was done most likely to protect it against anyone who would have stolen the blood of an Uzumaki. Furthermore, any interference, due to external threat if someone is somehow forcing an Uzumaki to open the lock, will be detected and blocked. The same applies to someone on the run, be it an Uzumaki or not, the scroll can only be open by someone not running away or force to do it." Naruto said.

"No wonder it's still safe to this day, even with Danzo in command for more than a decade. I never tried to open it, but somehow I can tell my old comrade Danzo tried with everything he had, only to fail. Where did you find it anyway ? Was it still stashed in the Hokage vault ?" The old man said.

"Yes, and with your instructions and them focused on me and the girls in the council room, it was really easy to retrieve it. They really left the same defenses and patrol rotations as in the past, I'm seriously starting to wonder if it really was necessary to create a diversion in the first place." The blond answered his sensei.

"Alright then, what are you waiting for ? You aren't on the run anymore and you do match all the other requirements needed for someone to open that scroll. No matter what you find in that scroll, you already have a family and friends that love you. Whether or not you are the last Uzumaki on earth doesn't change who you truly are and what you achieved on your own over the years." The captain of the Musashi told his fleet commander, seeing him hesitate.

The blond nodded to his teacher and then cut his finger a bit, in order to draw some blood for the seal. He then held the scroll and let it analyze his pulse and blood for some time. During all this, Hiruzen looked anxious for his student, sure he told him that it was fine and all, but he was still worried for Naruto. After some time, a clicking sound could be heard from the seal and it seemed like a lock just opened. Naruto pulled his hand back and both master and student looked as the scroll finally snapped open in a puff of smoke.

As the smoke cleared out, three smaller scrolls appeared, each had different markings on them. The first had the word 'jutsu' written on it, the second had 'technology' while the last one had 'Uzumaki' on it. Naruto put the first two aside and obviously went to check the third one first, using his blood again to open it. The blond quickly scanned its content and then smiled at Hiruzen who was looking at him the whole time.

"This is everything Mito and my mother found out about the few Uzumaki refugees who managed to escape the destruction of Uzushiogakure. It's organized in several family trees, each one retracing those families back to their roots in Uzu. I'm on the same one as my mother, there's Mito too, with your former student Tsunade in the same as hers. Confirmed deaths are marked with a cross over their names, unfortunately most of the names are crossed and date to the previous generation, the same as my mother's. I'm one of the very few from my generation." Naruto announced.

"I take it by your tone and smirk that you found out you are not alone." Sarutobi asked him.

"You are correct Sensei, there are still four names that are not crossed out in the register, mine and three others. Two of them are from my generation while the remaining one is from my mother's generation. It's not really giving specific names for them, only their lineage and probable location." Naruto replied as he studied Mito's and his mother's researches on their clan members.

"I see, I'm glad for you but don't forget it has not been updated since your mother died. They may or may not be alive anymore, everything is possible in the ninja world. Don't get your hopes too high for now. Anyway where will you be going first then ?" Hiruzen said to him.

"What can you tell me about Yugakure ?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

* * *

**Rice Country, Otogakure**

* * *

A week passed since the events that took place in Konoha with the news of the team that destroyed the Hokage Monument spreading throughout the world. It was impossible for Danzo and his goons to cover up the whole event, since the damn thing could be seen from miles away. Only few people knew the truth about it, namely the council. It was decided to pass it as a terrorist attack instead of Naruto bluffing them and calmly walking away from the village without anyone stopping him. Of course the blond was still held responsible for the bombing, the council meeting was erased from the records and they made it look like he attacked Konoha without a reason.

One man was very interested by such news, anything that made Konoha look like fools caught that man's attention. Orochimaru, former student of the Sandaime Hokage, was quite eager to meet the man who brought Danzo to his knees. He had to hold off on his plans to destroy the leaf ten years ago, with the Sandaime suddenly disappearing and Danzo taking his place. The War Hawk's wasn't as easy going as the Third when it came to security. As such it was much harder to infiltrate the leaf than during the previous Hokage's reign. Orochimaru remained patient and forged alliances left and right, waiting for the right time to strike against his former village.

"Kabuto, have you found anything of use on that man ?" Orochimaru asked his second in command.

"In addition to what we already knew of him from his profile in the Bingo book, I was also able to discover that the whole story about him attacking the Leaf with no reason is a lie, made up to hide the fact that they couldn't stop him. I have many witness saying that he was escorted back into the village prior to the explosion by a team of Leaf chunin and jonin. He left with his bodyguards soon after the explosion with no one following him. Whatever motivated him to attack them happened during the meeting he had with them after his arrival. He must have anticipated their conversation and went in prepared." Kabuto answered.

"Of course he did, no one would attack the supposedly strongest village in the Elemental Nations with no good reason. That man is very interesting, have you any clues to where he could be right now ?" The Otokage asked.

"Not precisely I'm afraid, I lost all track of him in River Country when he escaped from the Leaf's pursuit team. He apparently left using the rivers that led to the sea and from there he could really be absolutely everywhere in the continent or even around it." Kabuto explained.

"We may try our luck in Yugakure, since it has one of those port town that his fleet uses for their business. The only other one I know of is in Wave and I doubt he will show up there again for some time since it's the one he came from when he was escorted back into Fire Country by Konoha." The man added.

"Very well, you will send Tayuya to find out more clues about him and his group. She comes from there so it might help." Orochimaru replied with a smirk as Kabuto nodded and left the room to go execute his master's orders.

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**Wind Country, Sunagakure**

* * *

Shikamaru opened his eyes as he woke up in a room that he didn't recognize. He then remembered that he was not in his own house, as a matter of fact he was not even in his own village. They had been escorted back into Wind Country by the Suna team that saved them from the last attack from the masked man forces in River Country. Going backward into Fire Country was not an option as the Daimyo had sent his forces to check out the area where countless explosions were heard.

Given that they did not receive the permission to cross, much less fight, into these lands they had to escape from another embarrassing humiliation and decided to follow after the Suna team. They would lay low for a few days and then discretely go back home, where Danzo would most likely yell at them for failing. All in all he wasn't that sad to not go home directly.

The Nara heir also knew that the back-up team that was following them would not go through the borders of River Country as they did, albeit under the orders of Sasuke. Speaking of devil, Sasuke and also Neji were not at the top of their game since they suffered injuries from whatever jutsu the enemy was using. Without the help of those Suna nins they would most likely be dead right now.

Shikamaru then thought about the very jutsu that saved their lives, a wall of sand appeared around them and blocked the black rocks that were thrown at them. He immediately recognized the one responsible for that, Sabaku no Gaara, son of the Kazekage and jinchuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki. The mind of the genius from Konoha instantly understood what had happened, their Hokage must have 'asked' them to render assistance, since Wind Country wasn't that far away, most likely using one of their fastest communication bird in order to relay the message.

Sunagakure was their historical ally and would not refuse a support mission from them since their economy was more or less in their hands. Danzo knew about their difficulties to get more support from their Daimyo and used it fully to his advantage. He sent them missions, the more dangerous and less lucrative ones in exchange for their support and as such, Konoha became a huge part of Suna's economy. The Kazekage knew Danzo had spies everywhere and would immediately crush them if they chose disobey or betray them.

Shikamaru also knew Danzo tried to pit Gaara against the masked man, in an attempt to fish out more about his abilities since he was supposedly the one who killed Yagura, the previous Kage of the Hidden Mist and jinchuriki of the Sanbi. Unfortunately for Danzo, the Suna team was too late and their target had already escaped. The plan would have most likely worked, had they arrived a little bit earlier since that Gaara character seemed highly unstable and according to Kiba his sand reeked of blood. The jinchuriki would have certainly tried to attack the masked man, if given the possibility. Shikamaru was interrupted in his musing by the arrival of Choji and Kiba in his room.

"Hey Shikamaru, are you ready ? The Kazekage wants to see us before we head back home. Neji and Sasuke's injuries are fully healed so we can go now." Choji said as he entered the room with some food in his hands. The Nara sighed and then joined his team for their meeting with the Kage.

**Hot Springs Country, Northern Shores**

Naruto and the girls were on the deck of the Musashi, everyone fully rested and ready to disembark. Hiruzen suddenly appeared from the captain's quarters and came to them with a small book they all recognized. It was a newly edited version of the Bingo book and seeing his face, they could all take a guess at whose profile was updated. Naruto took the book from his sensei and opened it at his page, it read :

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**Name :** Unknown

**Nickname :** Kuro Kitsune

**Age :** 20-25

**Rank :** S

**Status :** Unknown, at least Jonin

**Attributes:** Kenjutsu(S) Ninjutsu(S) and Taijutsu(S)

**Affinities :** Wind, Fire, Lightning, Earth

**Bloodline :** Unknown

**Description :** Blond hair, blue eyes; See picture

Wears a face mask to keep his identity hidden

Holder of the Whales Summoning contract

**Defeated** S-Rank Kiri Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi

**Destroyed** the Hokage Monument in Konohagakure

**Action :** Engage with caution

**Bounty :** 50,000,000 Ryo in Konohagakure and Sunagakure, Dead or Alive

25,000,000 Ryo in Otogakure, Alive

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"Well I guess they put in everything they knew about me since our visit in the Leaf, still, I'm a bit surprised at the interest of Otogakure for me." Naruto mused as he passed the book around.

"Be careful with Orochimaru, Naruto. He is as dangerous as he is cunning, I should have finished him when I had the chance all those years ago." Hiruzen said with regret in his voice.

"Don't worry sensei, I will. Keep an eye on Wave Country and the Yamato for me, will you ?" The blond reassured his teacher and then left the ship with the girls. The Musashi left not long after that and made its way to Wave Country.

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**A/N : **Alright, that's it for now. Please continue to read and leave reviews.

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No action in this chapter but a little world tour as the aftermath of the previous chapter.

Now, part of Naruto's quest have been explained, it should be pretty clear to see where this is going. The final woman should be easy to find out now that you read this chapter.

I know there are parts that have yet to be explored, such as Naruto's status as a jinchuriki. Where the hell is the Kyuubi, Akatsuki and so on … Don't worry I have not forgotten them.


	10. First Contact

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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Most of you were able to guess who the final woman for Naruto's group is, with the last chapter's hints. Some guessed wrong but Tayuya is indeed the one, as the secondary character tag implies. Karin was too obvious and I wanted to give Tayuya a go since she was dead in my first story, plus her character should be very interesting to write.

Now remember Tayuya was 14 in canon before the timeskip, so with Naruto being 21, she now is about 23. She would have matured a bit from her canon counterpart so don't expect me to make a full time foul-mouth adult version of her. I will also be giving some made up information on her, just to make it work with my story since we don't know much about her background.

Since the names of the other two Uzumaki have already been announced in the reviews for the last chapter, I will confirm that Karin and Nagato are the two remaining Uzumaki members, other than Naruto and Tayuya. They will of course play an important role in the story later on, but for now let us focus our attention on the flute player.

Finally, yes, I have a thing for red heads. However, you will notice that for now Naruto's harem has three blondes and three purple or bluish haired women, so red should be a nice change. Tayuya and Naruto may share some ancestors but they aren't brother and sister or anything close to that. I have no problem with reading Naruto incest stories but I don't feel ready to write one yet, just like I was not ready to write a harem story for my first story. The new MA rating policy is quite annoying, for I really wanted to add lemons but now I can't ...

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

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**Chapter 10 : First Contact  
**

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**Hot Spring Country, Yugakure**

Tayuya and her team were currently crossing through Hot Spring Country, not even bothering with camouflage or anything of the sort, since Orochimaru had received _permission_ from the Daimyo to travel the lands as he wished with his armies. The leader of Otogakure had in exchange promised to leave the main village and capitol alone, Yugakure.

There was not much that could be done, since Kumo was pushing from the other side of the borders and Konoha would not move, fearing to expose themselves to both Oto and Kumo. This resulted in Hot Spring Country becoming a fake neutral zone in which shinobi from both Oto and Kumo could freely move without questioning from the local authorities.

As such, the red head deemed it unnecessary to disguise herself until she and her team reached the port town. Speaking about that squad currently traveling with her, they were Kin Tsuchi, Kotohime, Kagero and Sasame Fuuma. Together they formed Otogakure's Five Diva, a group that's exclusively composed by kunoichi, out of the regular army and only reporting to Orochimaru himself.

Kin and Tayuya were childhood friends, growing up together in the village of Yugakure before they were recruited by the Snake. The other three were members of the Fuuma Clan, an isolated group of ninja from Rice Country that chose to follow Orochimaru upon the _mysterious_ death of their leader. Being all orphans, they understood each other quite well, becoming quite famous over the years for their flawless teamwork.

As in every organization, they needed a leader to report to their master, so Tayuya was chosen. She was selected for that spot despite not being the strongest, Orochimaru never explained why, not that anyone would question him. Their squad was highly respected, second only to one other team from Oto, the Sound Four, a group exclusively composed by the strongest shinobi of their country that inspired fear among all their enemies and even allies for their ruthlessness and lack of restrain.

Even though the Diva weren't as powerful as the Sound Four, they had something the other squad didn't, strategy. Indeed, the five of them were all skilled strategists with Tayuya being the brightest. All their attacks were calculated in order to obtain the best results, always taking into account the strength and weakness from each member of their team.

There was something else that made them famous among their peers, their choice of weapon. Each and everyone of them chose to fight using sounds, something to show their allegiance to the village of Otogakure. Tayuya was using a flute, Kin used bells, Kotohime had a harp, Sasame used her own voice and Kagero used some kind of strange transformation of her body to form wings and then use their vibrations. They all used sounds as weapons against their enemies with genjutsu being their primary choice of attack, not that they didn't train themselves in the other ninja arts over the years.

Having grown up in a lawless zone had naturally been difficult for those women, they had to fight every step of the way, covering each other's backs, in order to avoid the other men and their less than honorable intentions. It didn't help that they were all beautiful women, something that was more a curse than a blessing in the shinobi world. Nevertheless, Orochimaru never expressed any interest in them that way, strangely enough he _preferred_ the company of the other all boy squad.

"Okay, we're close enough from our destination now. Take out your secondary gears, we will act like civilians for the rest of the trip." Tayuya announced as the port town came into view before them.

"This is such a drag, why not use **Henge**, Tayuya-chan ?" Kin asked as she started to take out her civilian clothes.

"Let's just assume that someone among them could detect the use of chakra that it would take for all of us to use that jutsu." Tayuya replied as she used a small genjutsu to cover up their location while the five of them were undressing.

In the end they all dressed as the locals and then suppressed their chakra levels to the bare minimum for their upcoming mission. Tayuya dispelled her genjutsu and their group departed again, choosing to walk for the rest of the trip since a bunch of civilian women tree jumping would most definitely get them unwanted attention.

The Diva arrived at their destination thirty minutes later, in the huge village at the extreme north of Hot Spring Country that also served as a port.

"Alright, let's spread out. Report back to me in two hours, orders are to observe for now. Try to not attract any unnecessary attention and should you encounter our target, do not engage, we aren't here to fight." The red head told her group as they all went in different directions to look for the masked blond man.

* * *

**With Naruto**

* * *

On the other side of the town, Naruto just exited the inn where he and the girls had rented rooms for the night. They had already gone to sleep, it had been a long time since the last time they had a bed that was not relentlessly shaken by the ship's movements. Consequently Naruto was left alone, still, he couldn't wait to explore the region and find out more about the last members of his clan.

Three people, that was everything he knew about those Uzumaki. That was not much but it certainly wasn't nothing either. Another clue he had was that Uzumaki usually, if not always, had red hair, a paradox when looking at him but he knew where those golden hair of his came from. From what he saw in his travels, red hair were not that common in the Elemental Nations, he decided to focus his attention on them first.

Ever since the Konoha incident, Naruto opted for a small change in his appearance. Gone were the mask and his blond hair, as he decided to show his face, though he colored his hair in red, picking a natural disguise instead, over the use of **Henge**. The whole world was looking out for a masked man with blond hair, he figured that way no one would notice him with this new setup.

Naruto also decided against showing off his powers, his newly updated profile into the bingo book got him more attention than needed. He would need to keep a low profile if he wanted to approach his Uzumaki comrades without scaring them. Disguised as the perfect random civilian, he started his new mission by visiting the more crowded area of this town.

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**Center of the Town**

* * *

Tayuya was bored out of her mind, the search for the masked man and his crew had been less than entertaining so far. Ever since she went on her own to look out for information about her target, it started to rain and she decided to get inside a popular restaurant of the area. The place was an even more crowded area than everything she saw until now from this town.

The leader of the Five Diva sat at a small table, waiting for someone to take her order. She did not have to wait long before she felt someone behind her, slightly touching her shoulder. The contact seemed a little bit too familiar for her and once she looked back, she was surprised not to see some waitress as she expected, but a man seemingly drunk that gazed at her with a perverted look in his eyes.

"Hello there miss, how about a drink with me and my buddies over there ?" He said, loudly, while looking at her breasts instead of her face. There was indeed a bunch of equally drunk men seating behind them, with some of them already harassing other tables or waitresses.

Tayuya cursed her luck at being assigned this mission, she would tear Kabuto a new one as soon as they get home. For now though, she was in a pinch for she couldn't risk exposure by attacking that pig and his friends. There was a probability that her target or someone related to him was around or even in this bar with her right now, so she could not risk it and decided to remain calm for now.

"_Who the fuck is that shit stain trying to hit on ? He's so lucky I can't use my powers on him right now or he would be in a world of pain right now."_ She yelled in her head while looking at the man.

"Actually, I'm already waiting for a friend of mine, it shouldn't be long before he arrives." She told the man, trying to keep a neutral tone. Of course, there are men who won't take no for an answer, he was among them.

"Look here miss, who do you think you are to refuse an invitation from me, the Kuro Kitsune." The man proudly yelled, as everyone around stopped what they were doing to look at him. Naturally the nickname from the man who killed Yagura and destroyed the Hokage mountain was something that would attract anyone's attention. Among the crowd of curious bystanders, was a certain man with red hair whose eyes widened at the mention of said name.

"_Kuro Kitsune my ass, there's no way in hell that he's my target. He looks like a pirate wannabe, I guess the men in the back are his crew. This town is really starting to become a dump for the scum of the Elemental Nations ever since their Daimyo signed the treaty with Orochimaru."_ Tayuya thought. She was about to snap, as the man who pretended to be the Kuro Kitsune still had a hand on her shoulder, when someone suddenly interrupted them from the other side of the bar.

"There you are, I've been looking for you for hours." Naruto said as he approached her table and sat in front of her, not paying attention to the man behind. The crowd was stunned at the man who just barged in, unaware of the dangerous man and situation that he was interrupting.

"I-I'm sorry, honey, I was shopping when I realized that I lost track of you." Tayuya quickly replied, trying to play along with her mysterious savior. He looked sober enough and truth to be told, she found him to be much cuter than the man currently harassing her.

"_What the hell ? Is he trying to save me ? I guess it's better than me killing that shit stain and thus failing my mission ..."_ She analyzed.

"Is something the matter, Sir ? Do you need something with me or my wife ?" Naruto asked the man as he finally acknowledged him.

"Do you know who I am ? How dare you interrupt the Kuro … " The drunk never had the chance to finish his sentence as Naruto discretely sent him a focused wave of Killing Intent. The whole crowd looked on as the harasser suddenly lost control of his bladder and started to wet his pants right there in the middle of the bar.

No one knew what to say, as the man turned bright red in anger and embarrassment, with everyone around looking at his soiled pants. He ran out, followed by his men, sending a glare toward Naruto and Tayuya on his way out. Absolute silence reigned for a few seconds before the whole place burst out laughing, not able to contain themselves after witnessing this scene.

"That was close, I thought for a moment that he was going to kill me. I hope I'm not a bother, I saw him harassing you and I couldn't help myself from stepping in, not that anyone else looked ready to do so ..." Naruto said, as he saw the other occupants of the bar looking down in guilt.

"That's fine, really, I don't know what would have happened if you didn't interfere, Sir ?" Tayuya replied with one of her fake smile.

"Naruto, nice to meet you, miss ?" Naruto gave her his name and expected her to do the same. It was a long shot but she was the first red head he met ever since they arrived. It never hurt to ask, Naruto knew he would have to test her nevertheless, even if her name wasn't Uzumaki, just to be sure. He then held out his hand for her to shake it while waiting for her name.

"I'm Yuya, it's nice to meet you too, Naruto-san." The woman replied, as both noticed that neither had given out a family name. She caught his hand and shook it, but winced in surprise as she felt something sting her.

"Ouch ! What was that ?" Tayuya yelled as she withdrew her hand from Naruto's.

"Oh damn I'm so sorry, Yuya-san, this is something I prepared for the other guy and forgot to take it off. Don't worry it's not poisonous or anything, I didn't have the time to load it." Naruto apologized vigorously, also using his best fake smile as he put away the blood sample he just stole from Tayuya without her ever noticing it.

"I'm fine don't worry about it, but what about you ? Will you be fine with angering a man like him ? He said he was the famous Kuro Kitsune after all, I wouldn't want to have him for an enemy." She asked her savior.

"The what ?" He instantly fired back at her, taking his best ignorant look, hoping his acting skills were good enough to fool the beautiful red head in front of him.

"You went in without knowing who you were dealing with ?" Tayuya asked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, I am a traveler and I have to confess that I don't know any Kuro Kitsune. Is he a famous samurai or something ?" Naruto innocently asked again. As soon as Tayuya knew that Naruto wasn't a local, her behavior changed.

"_Damn, I lost my time with this one, he's not from here. He won't know shit about the target, damn, I'm really having a shitty day. Where the hell are Kin and the others ? I hope they had a better luck than me."_ She thought as she took out a Bingo book and handed it to Naruto.

"Here, that's the man, though I doubt he's the real deal if anything written in that profile is true. You are lucky he was not sober or a real warrior, you'd stand no chance." She said as she suddenly stood up and made her way out.

* * *

**On the streets**

* * *

Naruto took his time exploring the city a bit more and unfortunately for him, there was no other red head. That Yuya woman was the only one he found on that day, though he had a sample of her blood so verifying if she has Uzumaki blood shouldn't be that hard for him. Aside from the sacred scroll of the Uzumaki clan, he had devised new seals that would detect such blood, not as secured as the one Mito and his mother had used on the scroll but good enough for his current application.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when someone called out for him from a dark alley in the outskirt of the city.

"Hey you with the red hair !" A strangely familiar voice echoed from the dark street.

Naruto sighed, aside from Yuya he was the only other "red" head inside the city, even though his were fake. He naturally deduced that the voice was calling for him and turned back toward it. He didn't react as a normal civilian man would, running the hell away from the obvious trap.

Just about a couple of seconds later, he was surrounded by a dozen thugs, whose leader was the same man who harassed Yuya in the bar earlier. It seems he sobered up alright and called out a bunch of _friends_ in order to get his revenge against Naruto.

"Did you think we would forget about that little meeting we had in the bar ? I'm going to get some fun with you and then I'll go greet your little wife after that." He said with a smirk on his face, as the men following him stepped closer to Naruto.

"_Well, it's a good thing that we're in a deserted place and the time is late. I guess I'll have that little workout after all ..."_ Naruto thought as he sighed and then calmly called out a technique with no hand seals.

"**Uzumaki Ninpo."** He announced as he disappeared from his spot for a second, only to reappear again in the exact same spot, holding the Ram hand sign.

"Are you some kind of shinobi ? What did you just do ?" The leader asked, unsure of what had just happened.

"There's no need for me to answer the question from a dead man." Naruto said as the men around stared at him and then at each other for a second before laughing out loud.

"You won't bluff your way out of this again, get him m..." The man never ended his sentence as Naruto released his hand sign.

"**Tsunawatari."** Naruto said as a gush of wind erupted from his body and the thugs were violently propelled backward. However, instead of crashing into the walls as one would expect them to after taking on Naruto's apparent wind jutsu, their bodies exploded in the air in a shower of blood and limbs.

Only after the technique was used that the secret was revealed, as blood was dripping from all over the street, from the numerous ninja wires that Naruto had installed before releasing his jutsu. The only evidence of those wires being there was the dripping blood of their victims. Satisfied with his work the now blond Naruto exited the alley and made his way back toward the inn where the girls were waiting for him.

He never noticed the five shadows that were looking down on him from a building not far from the scene.

"_What the heck ? Did he just say Uzumaki ? How is that possible, could it be ?"_ Were the thoughts of a certain red head as she looked at the unsuspecting retreating form of her mysterious savior.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now folks. Don't forget to read and review please.

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How did it go, Naruto meeting Tayuya with both trying to find the other one without knowing that their target is right under their nose.

How will they both react ? Since Naruto has her blood he will find out about her origins and Tayuya just witnessed him use shinobi powers, strong ones at that and he even announced a Uzumaki jutsu.

Read the next issue to find out, been a long time without my classic cliffhanger :)

How do you like the concept of an all girls team in Oto, exclusively using Sound attacks. I'll have to create some move for them but hopefully it will turn alright as all the other jutsu I came up with so far. I am open to suggestion on that front, and if you think the girls should get other devices from the ones I wrote about.

* * *

**New Jutsu :**

* * *

**Uzumaki Ninpo : Tsunawatari**, translates as Uzumaki Arts, Tightrope Walking. A vicious jutsu, combining the setting up of a wire network around the user and the charge and release of a wind jutsu to project the targets on the wires. The sharper the wires and stronger the wind, the more effective the jutsu.

Cyber cookie to those finding the origin for that move, not that hard considering my history in jutsu creation :)


	11. Meetings

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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First of all, congratulations to the reviewer '**R-Rated**' for correctly guessing where Naruto's move came from. The jutsu is indeed based on a character from Prince of Tennis again, Marui Bunta of Rikkaidai. Good job, you get your cookie for that :)

Tayuya seems to be fairly well received, as the last woman in Naruto's harem and also as one of the remaining Uzumaki members scattered around the Elemental Nations. I know some of you found it hard to believe that Naruto wasn't aware of her spying on him with the Diva, but her first encounter with the blond was not supposed to lead to a direct confrontation between them.

I know I said Naruto was an S-Ranked warrior and all but genjutsu will still be his weakest shinobi art, he is not unbeatable, well not yet at least. Compared to that, the Diva have great mastery in the illusion arts, so let's just leave it at that for now.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 11 : Meetings**

* * *

_Flashback : Unknown island, fifteen years ago_

Naruto suddenly woke up, as he felt something very cold touching his feet. Everything around was bright and he felt light headed, after standing up too quickly. Looking around, he was stunned to see that he was all alone and apparently on a beach. The cold sensation he felt earlier on his feet was the water from the sea, and, judging from its low temperature and the current position of the sun, it was still quite early in the morning.

The boy was confused now, the last thing he remembered was the ship that he and Jiji took for the special mission the old man had to do. He went to sleep and the next thing he knows he's here, on this beach all by himself. His young mind couldn't understand what was going on so he did what a lost boy would do in his shoes. He started to run frantically all around the beach, shouting 'Jiji' and looking around to see if he could locate his surrogate grandfather.

The boy ran around like this for hours, his abnormally high stamina allowing him to do so. When he finally spent all of his remaining energy, he fell to his knees with tears in his eyes. He completely ignored the burning sensation on his naked feet from running non stop on the now burning sand of the beach. In his chase he never noticed that he ran in a circle, all around a medium sized island.

That's when he realized something, did his Jiji abandon him too ? He couldn't help but wonder, it was too nice to be true. The old man never had the time to stick with him and suddenly, he asked him if he wanted to come on a vacation trip with him. Naruto started to doubt, maybe this was his fault too, he always played pranks and never listened to the old man, perhaps it was a punishment for him.

The six year old boy continued to despair on his current situation when something shiny caught his attention. He immediately recognized the item, growing up in a shinobi village, he knew what that small knife was, a kunai. It was like a sign from the Gods themselves and, in his current emotional state, some dangerous thoughts started to wander in his young and fragile mind.

It would be so easy to end his suffering, he was not stupid, he knew about life and death. Living in one of the poorest section of the village, he had already come across crime scenes quite often in the past. A particular memory flashed in his mind, about a sad looking man plunging a kunai in his own heart to never wake up again after that.

The blond made up his mind and slowly raised the kunai in front of him, pointing its blade toward his chest, as he had seen the man do back in the village. He prepared his move, one last thought in his head about his Jiji then closed his eyes and moved his hands.

"**Stop right there !"** A strong voice yelled, making him freeze in his position and drop the kunai on the ground. Turning around he saw no one and wondered who just called out to him. That's when a searing pain erupted in his head and he blacked out shortly after that.

* * *

**Naruto's Mindscape**

* * *

The blond opened his eyes and found himself in a strange looking place yet again. He was in a dark room that looked like a sewer to him. Of course he knew what a sewer would look like, having been thrown in one by a drunk villager in the past or hiding in there when he needed an emergency exit.

Naruto never questioned the fact that one second he was on a deserted beach and the next moment he finds himself in this place. Curiosity and his childish naivety overcame any sense of logic his young mind could possibly have at this time and he decided to move on without looking back.

Contrary to the sewer in Konoha, this place was not much of a maze since there was only one way to go. He followed the path, straight ahead to find himself in a much larger room, with a gigantic cage in the center. There was a sign on the cage's lock, unfortunately for him though, Naruto didn't know how to read so the meaning of the writing on it was lost to him.

"**So we finally meet, Naruto."** The same loud voice that stopped him earlier echoed throughout the room. Naruto couldn't determine its origin but he could only guess that it was coming from the dark space inside the cage.

"W-Who is it ?" The boy asked fearfully while looking inside the cage.

When his eyes finally got used to the darkness around, what he saw inside the cage stunned him even more than the beach from earlier. In front of him stood a giant fox with nine tails flowing behind its back.

"**Now that you see me, do you have any idea of whom you are talking to ?"** The creature asked him, crouching down and bringing its face close to the ground to appear right in front of the cage's lock.

"Kyuubi, but I thought the Yondaime killed you. Every year the villagers celebrate your death, I'm sure of this since it's the same day as my birthday." Naruto replied, not sure in what to believe any longer.

"**Yeah well, I'm not so easily killed boy. The Hokage did the next best thing he could, he sealed me. Do you know where ?"** The fox asked him.

"M-Me ?" Naruto said, too shocked to say anything else. Everything fell into place with this piece of information. The hate and everything else was a result of that fateful day six years ago when the Yondaime sealed the most powerful demon to have ever walked the earth in his gut.

"**That's right, monkey. Because of that our fates are now linked, if you die I die. Now, what on earth were you trying to pull earlier with that kunai ? Do you know how much I had to spare in order to save our lives when you were thrown into the sea ?"** The fox yelled at him, angered by his previous actions.

"I-I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me. I thought I was all alone again, I thought Jiji left me to die because I did something wrong." Naruto replied, tears in his eyes. The next thing he did surprised the fox greatly, as the little blond leaped forward and tried to hug its face.

Seeing this, the creature froze for a moment, never in its long captive life had a host been so close and careless. Of course Naruto was still young and didn't realize how dangerous the Kyuubi could be. Seeing the weeping boy, the creature sighed, knowing it would be difficult to proceed with the blond in this state.

Naruto was surprised and had to take a few steps back, out of the cage when the body of the fox in front of him started to glow in a bright red light. The boy was blinded for a few seconds before the light disappeared. What he saw then was even more surprising than everything that had led to this moment, for in front if him stood a woman instead of the giant fox.

"**There, it should be easier to speak with you with this form."** The woman said. She had long red straight hair that reached her waists. Her eyes were also bright red, with a slit right in the middle. The only physical differences between her and a normal human woman were the two fox ears she had and the nine tails that came out behind her. The only clothing she had was a black kimono, it barely covered her body but Naruto was both too young and distracted to notice such things.

"Kyuubi, is that you ? How is this possible, I thought you were a demon fox ?" Naruto stuttered out as he continued to stare.

"**No, I'm Santa Claus."** Replied the woman with a sigh. Her eyebrows twitched when she saw the confusion in his eyes, most likely not getting her reference.

"Santa what ?" The boy asked, oblivious to the joke.

"**You know Santa Claus, fat old man with red clothes and the white beard … Never mind, just call me Natsuki."** The now identified Natsuki replied. She closed her eyes and, out of nowhere, a couch materialized itself right behind her and she sat down on it.

"Where are we Natsuki-chan ?" Naruto wondered, not noticing the suffix he just added to her name even though she did but let it slide for now.

"**We are in your mind, I had to bring you here before you tried to hurt yourself again, fool."** Natsuki said, still mad about almost dying because of her host's weakness. She had to calm herself though, when the boy started to look down with tears in his eyes.

"**Listen, I have a deal for you. You obviously can't handle the situation outside on your own and I don't want to die because you were too weak to defend yourself. What I propose is this, I will train you, making you stronger and smarter and in return you will obey my rules."** She said with a heavy sigh.

"What rules, Natsuki-chan ?" Naruto asked, he had already decided to accept her deal, since he was too happy to finally have some company and the prospect of being trained by a demon fox or girl was very appealing to him too, regardless of the rules she was about to lay down for him.

"**First, you will always obey my orders without discussion when it comes to training. Second, you are not allowed to hurt yourself like you tried earlier with that kunai, never. Last, until I say otherwise, you are not allowed to hurt others with the things I will teach you. So, will you agree with my terms ?"** She announced.

"Yes, I accept but I have one condition too. I want you to promise me that you will never leave me alone." Naruto fired back instantly, jumping around like an idiot in doing so when she nodded back to him. Natsuki saw this and couldn't hold back a chuckle. The next few years would be interesting, the red head knew she had just lied to him but he didn't need to know that just yet.

"**Very well, I will send you back to the outside world. Now that we made our first contact, it will be easier for us to communicate. Just think what you want to say to me and I will answer you through the same way."** She told him before kicking him out of his mindscape.

_End of Flashback_

* * *

**Hot Spring Country - Port town, nowadays**

* * *

Naruto woke up from his sleep with a single tear falling down on his cheek. It had been a long time since he last had a dream about Natsuki. Thinking back about those times still brought out smiles and tears for him. This was a part of his past no one knew about, not even his wives. He knew he would have to tell them at one point. Not now though, he got out of bed and prepared himself for the day.

One day had passed ever since their arrival in Hot Spring country and Naruto had informed the girls about his encounter with the woman named Yuya. He also told them about the little workout he had after that, and, needless to say they were all pissed that he didn't wait for them before he had his fun with those idiots. The crew was currently all assembled in Naruto's room, discussing the very next step of the blond's plan in order to locate the missing members of his clan.

"Miya-chan, would you bring me the scroll on that table please ?" Naruto said, showing a small red scroll with a complex looking seal on top of it. Miya nodded to her husband and went to retrieve the item for him.

"Thank you, now all of you take a step back, I will perform the testing." Naruto said as he took out a ring from his pocket. It was the one he wore the day before, when he took a sample from Tayuya's blood in the restaurant. He very carefully applied a drop of the sample on the seal and waited for the result to come out.

As soon as the drop of blood came into contact with the seal, it glowed red for a moment before the scroll was unlocked in front on Naruto and his girls' eyes. The women anxiously waited for Naruto's reaction to the news of him finally finding a member of his clan. His hands were trembling and he had his eyes closed but after ten long seconds, a smile appeared on his face as he slowly sealed the scroll back into its initial state.

"Will you be alright, Naruto-kun ?" Kazehana was the first to speak to him, embracing her husband from behind. She could feel him tremble from the hug, as she let the warmth from her own body transfer to him.

"Yes, I'm fine don't worry, it's just that after so long I didn't think I would succeed in finding them." He replied as he turned around and hugged her back. It was one of the rare times where Kazehana would not appear as her playful persona, instead, she was the gentle and loving wife of Uzumaki Naruto. It was a side of her she would never show anyone else than her family, meaning Naruto and the other women currently in that room.

"I'm glad for you too, Naruto-kun. Now, how are we going to proceed from here on ? If that Yuya really is a member of the Uzumaki clan then we need to find her but then what ? Do you think she will agree with your plan and follow you, leaving her old life behind ?" Miria asked him.

"I'd like to know more about her before I reveal myself as an Uzumaki. We know almost nothing about her. I need to know if it's really worth it, for me to barge into her life and involve her with our problems. Rana and Stella, I want you two to find and observe her, it should be easy since she is the only one in town with red hair." Naruto said to the two younger girls who nodded and immediately went to start their mission.

* * *

**In another part of the town, with Tayuya**

* * *

The red head was currently resting in the room that she shared with Kin, in a hotel of the city. The three other girls were also sharing a room, the one right next to hers. They had just gone through a meeting in order to discuss their next move.

Two things were discussed during that meeting, the results of their search for information about the Kuro Kitsune and the brutal fight they witnessed after that, right before they decided to call it a day and come back into this hotel. They didn't think much about Naruto, as he didn't really fit with the descriptions they were given about their target. However, his fighting style did impress them a lot, Tayuya more so than the others but for other reasons unknown to them.

Contrary to Naruto, Tayuya had not revealed to her teammates that she had met with him just before they had seen him in the street, dispatching that group of thugs. The same scums who had assaulted her in the restaurant earlier, and, even if she didn't really needed his help, Naruto did intervene and prevented them from further harassing her. Even though she had never been in any type of danger, he had saved her from blowing her cover. She didn't want to tell her teammates how she had been in the the position of the damsel in distress, they never would have let it slide and would mercilessly tease her about it.

Back to the reason why they are staying in this small town in the first place, none of them had found anything of note about the Kuro Kitsune. The people they asked did know who he was, or what he looked like but it was the same as what could already be seen from his Bingo book's profile. Their mission was to stay here for the week and then report back all their findings to Kabuto after that.

* * *

**Konohagakure Council Chamber**

* * *

The honorable High Council of Konohagakure was going through the village annual budget's audit, since the preparations for the War had considerably increased their expenses while the commercial trade incomes had severely decreased, due to the tension between the villages. The numbers would have to be revised once more, since they had also raised a huge amount of gold for the capture of the one named Kuro Kitsune in the international Bingo book.

Danzo may have had a say in the military affairs of the village, however, when it came to money he was stuck with the civilian representatives, for he needed their approval to increase the taxes. They were currently negotiating their 'support' to his project of tax raising, with things like getting more lands for themselves once the Leaf won the war or their cut of the gold they would seize from their enemies for instance.

During all this the Shinobi Council members, who were also in attendance, were bored out of their mind. Having to listen to these civilians, elders and the Hokage bickering among themselves about things they didn't even own yet was quite uninteresting. Even the famed apprentice of the Hokage, Uchiha Sasuke, seemed to be about to doze off, since he too was forced to attend to the meeting as the head of the Uchiha clan.

Danzo was about to call for a recess when the doors of the room suddenly flung open, as a squad of ANBU entered with a man in chains in their custody and Ibiki Morino, following after them, with a bored expression on his face. The head of the T&I department motioned for the ANBU to drop their captive in the center of the room while he went to sit in the guests area.

"What's the meaning of this, Ibiki ?" Danzo asked, not enjoying the man's carefree behavior.

"One of the patrols found this one drifting in the water near the coats toward Wave Country, during _that_ mission. It's about Kuro Kitsune so, believe me, you want to listen to what this man has to say." Ibiki said as he waited for the information to sink into the minds of every council members and his Hokage. He was not disappointed, merely a few seconds after he had announced the Kuro Kitsune name, the whole room fell silent and every eyes were fixed on that prisoner covered in chains who was brought before them.

The man looked to be in his fifties, he seemed injured and bled from several places, but nothing life threatening for the moment, indicating he had a nice chat with Ibiki before coming here. He couldn't talk for now, since he had a gag preventing him from doing so, consequently, Ibiki came to him and removed the device.

"Now, who are you and what do you know about the Kuro Kitsune ?" Danzo asked him.

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**A/N : **That's it for now. I know I didn't release a chapter last week, I have no real excuse other than being busy with other things. Please continue to read and review, this is by far the best support you can give me to speed up my release rate :)

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First peak into Naruto's past and especially about his jinchuriki condition. Now my regular readers know Female Kyuubi is among my favorite pairings for Naruto so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you how I portray her in this story. There is a twist about her relationship with Naruto though, as some of you may have guessed after reading this chapter.

Flashbacks will come about the other parts of his life prior to his return in the Elemental Nations, I will try to always have parts of the chapters still taking place in the current timeline, so that it isn't entirely focused in the past. I know chapters full of flashbacks can quickly become annoying to read so don't worry about that.

Well, what will the Leaf learn about Naruto and his crew ? How will Tayuya react to the second meeting she will most definitely have with the blond Uzumaki ? Read the next issue to find out :)


	12. Cursed Existences

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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I had doubts on whether or not people would like the flashback mixed into the previous chapter and so far I had no complain about it, even better, people enjoyed the explanation about Natsuki and her meeting with Naruto. Now I know I left a pretty important part out of the previous flashback, about her fate and why she has never been mentioned so far in the "current" timeline, hopefully all will be revealed in this chapter's flashback section.

Some of you are also eager to see how Yuya-chan will come to the "good" side, well this is the only relationship that's not already developed as a wife/husband or girlfriend/boyfriend one so I will take the time to properly build it. Don't worry though, it will come, just be patient with me on that.

Finally the "guest" that was introduced in Konoha last time seemed to have caught your attention. I knew there would be speculation about who he is, with the little information I gave about him, well I'll let you discover his identity in this chapter as well.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 12 : Cursed Existence**

**Hot Spring Country - Port town**

Tayuya was aimlessly wandering through the marketplace of the city, lost in her thoughts about the man who 'saved' her the day before. Sure, he was powerful and it seemed that what he did was only a small portion of his true skill but, above all that, the red head was curious about the jutsu he used to kill those men. She clearly heard him call out the 'Uzumaki' name before unleashing his jutsu, a name she never imagined she would hear again in this lifetime.

It was a very well kept secret that she too, was a true Uzumaki. A long time ago, before her life as a kunoichi, she had loving parents and lived in the outskirts of Kirigakure. Everything then changed one day, when some shinobi from the Bloody Mist attacked her home and killed both her parents in cold blood. The only reason for all that was the bloodline purge that was started by the Mizukage of that time, Yagura.

She managed to escape from that massacre with the help from her mother, pushing the young girl into a hidden room of their house at the last moment. She had to watch Yagura's men slaughter her parents in front of her, a scene that had ever since and forever will haunt her dreams at night. She left Mizu no Kuni soon after that, all alone, with only her Uzumaki's bloodline as a way to protect herself in the merciless shinobi world.

From there on she wasn't Uzumaki Tayuya anymore, only Tayuya. No one in Oto knew about this and she had kept the secret to herself until now. Not even Orochimaru nor Kin knew about it, she had herself started to forget about the Uzumaki name before meeting that mysterious man. It was the first time in more than a decade that she heard that strange yet familiar name.

This was the sole reason why she had not informed her team about that encounter with that man in the bar, prior to witnessing him brutally kill those idiots in that dark alley later on. She couldn't be sure but still hoped that no one, beside her, heard or noticed him calling out his jutsu. It would spell troubles for her if Orochimaru or Kabuto learned that she held off such information from her team.

In her musings, Tayuya failed to notice that she was being followed, not by one or two people, but three of them. The first one was spying on her while walking right behind her. Rana and Stella were shadowing her from a safer distance, masking their presence to the limit. Of course they noticed the extra one, but continued their surveillance as per their Captain's orders, taking notes on both Tayuya and the one following after her.

On the other side of the town, Naruto remained alone in his room. His wives had gone shopping, he didn't even try to stop them as it was a lost cause and he already resigned himself to let them spend as much as they wanted to. He still remembered the dream he had the when he woke up and slowly closed his eyes as those old memories assaulted his mind once again ...

* * *

_Flashback : Unknown island, ten years ago_

* * *

Five years had passed ever since Naruto arrived on this deserted island. Still oblivious as to how he ended up here in the first place, the blond decided to move on with his new life. Things had indeed changed for better in his life, the most important one being the meeting with his tenant, the Kyuubi. The encounter resulted with him gaining a companion in his lonely life, and much much more ...

He wasn't the same malnourished boy he was when he first woke up here, five years ago. Natsuki saw to it that he knew how to deal with living in such an environment. He learned how to hunt, aiming for smaller preys first. He also made sure to never hunt the same species all the time, the vixen told him how important this was, in order to preserve the fragile ecosystem of the island and not run out of food.

Natsuki held off on training him more specifically until she deemed him ready, both physically and mentally. She made sure to not hinder his growth with premature physical labor, preferring to first have him study with her in his mindscape, as often as they could. In the seal, she had free access to all the knowledge she had accumulated over the millennium she had lived through, materializing that knowledge in the form of a library with countless books and scrolls for Naruto to study.

In two years, the blond was already as advanced as an academy student would be after graduation, meaning he was already genin material at eight when other children would graduate at twelve. He was finally allowed to start his ninjutsu and taijutsu practice at the end of his first year, Natsuki had always stopped him from doing so before that, saying that his body wasn't ready or that he was not mature enough.

Strangely enough, and even though Natsuki knew lots of taijutsu and ninjutsu styles, she focused almost all of her teachings in the manipulation of youki. Youki is another form of chakra that was mainly used by demonic entities such as herself, that's the reason why Naruto had argued with her many times, that he should learn other things. To no avail though, since he did promise her that he would always follow her orders as long as training was involved.

As such, the blond's body matured even faster than previously, under the constant use of that more concentrated form of chakra that was running throughout his coils. Still, being a stubborn child, Naruto did win some of their arguments over time and Natsuki reluctantly taught him some of the ninjutsu she knew he would need in the future, the **Kawarimi**, the **Henge** and the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**.

Living on an island, Naruto also developed an interest in the sea, something he could never share with his tenant seeing that she, similarly to almost every canine species, hated the water element. As such, the boy spent a lot of time every day swimming in the sea, exploring the outskirts of the island and also catching fish from all kind of species, something Naruto did use to his advantage in order to convince the vixen to not stop him. Since she did share his senses, Natsuki started to really enjoy the taste of the seafood Naruto was providing them with.

Over the years, their relationship had evolved from one of a host / tenant toward a student / teacher one. The pair spent every minute of every day together, speaking about almost everything that came through their mind. Naruto was a very curious child and Natsuki seemed to have all the answers to his never ending questions. It all started from the vixen's desire to prevent her host from wanting to end his life, but this quickly turned into a true friendship between two lonely souls that had never had the chance to experience such a thing in their previous lives.

Natsuki was a proud and powerful entity, unbound by the needs of companionship, with everyone around her weaker than her. Naruto was born with a curse and everyone around him ignored his existence. Forced to coexist together on this isolated island, the two came to enjoy the other one's presence, and, even though they weren't aware of it, they slowly but surely fell in love with each other.

Naruto was a little oblivious to the notion of Love while Natsuki wasn't that much better than him. She caught glimpses of the things her two previous hosts did in their lives and knew humans often experienced such feelings. By the time she understood what was happening with Naruto, it was already too late to stop herself from wanting to be with the blond. Things like moral, age or species never came into the picture since neither of them were bound to such values, living in that secluded environment.

By the end of the fourth year since his arrival, Naruto was finally aware of his feelings for the red head and was totally lost as to how he should act on them. He was pretty sure Natsuki also shared his feelings but he didn't know how to express them. The red head was indeed aware of her host's dilemma but she faked ignorance over the matter. She knew something he didn't and tried to remain fair to him by not pursuing her own feelings.

During the next year, Natsuki would often disappear in the seal for hours everyday, cutting the link with Naruto completely during those times. Worried that he did something she didn't like, the blond asked her about it but she quickly replied that she too, was entitled to some private time to herself. They had good and bad times in their relationship over the years, but, never had she deliberately ignored him. Determined to figure out what he did that seemingly angered his loved one, Naruto decided to go into his mindscape during one of those times where she would disappear.

Blocking the connection with her host when she wanted to avoid him both had its advantages and drawbacks for Natsuki. Sure, he couldn't ask her the questions she knew he was dying to know the answers of, but, at the same time she didn't know what he was doing as well during those times. It allowed Naruto to enter the mindscape without her knowing about it.

The place changed a lot ever since their first contact, Natsuki had the freedom to do as she wanted in the seal while Naruto changed the sewer-like environment into a never ending forest for the two of them to play in. The interior of the seal was turned into a small house for the vixen to stay at, it was very simple and only had everything she needed in order to be comfortable.

It was the night of their fifth anniversary of being together on that island, Naruto went in her house, seeking answers from the vixen about her late behavior. Upon entering, he heard sobs coming from her room. Without thinking, Naruto ran straight to her and opened the door. There, he saw his loved one laying in her bed, with tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong, Natsuki-chan ?" The blond said as he tried to hug her and wipe the tears away.

"**I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun."** She replied between two sobs. She couldn't hold her feelings back anymore and launched herself at him, hugging his smaller body with all her strength. They stayed like that for a moment, with Naruto patting her head while he waited for her to calm down.

"What are you sorry for, you've done nothing wrong Natsuki-chan." Naruto told her.

"**I won't be able to keep that promise I made five years ago, Naruto-kun."** Natsuki said as she finally regain her composure. Naruto was confused for a moment, wondering what promise the red head was talking about. His eyes widened after he realized where the conversation was going.

"W-What, Why ? I don't understand, please explain what I did wrong, I promise you I will not do it again. Don't leave me alone, I don't want to be alone anymore, anything but that Natsuki-chan." The boy pleaded desperately, his own tears falling from his eyes.

"**You did nothing wrong, Naruto-kun. My fate was sealed along with my Youki, eleven years ago when I was sent here by your father."** Natsuki told him, still held in his small arms. Naruto

knew about the Yondaime being his father, Natsuki had been straightforward with him about it. He also learned about his mother being Uzumaki Kushina, previous host of Natsuki.

"**The Shiki Fuujin is designed to slowly convert my Youki into your own power, in other words it slowly saps away my life strength and gives it to you. The process should have taken more than two decades to be completed but one accident dramatically accelerated it." **She explained to him. Naruto's eyes widened as knew what accident she was talking about.

"The ship … When they threw me out in the sea ?" The boy asked, his voice trembling.

"**Yes, that night I used everything I had in order to keep us alive. By the time we arrived on the island, I had already burned more than half of my power."** Natsuki answered him.

"Then all that training with Youki, it was all because of this ..." Naruto finally realized why she had to focus all his training into the control of the Youki that was running through his coils. Naruto felt cold all of a sudden and realized that it was not his body that was cooling down but Natsuki's. The vixen's body started to lose its structure and she sadly smiled at her beloved host as she felt the last of her strength dissipating.

"**I never wanted to lie to you, I'm so sorry. Please don't be sad, I don't regret the things I did for you. I would trade all the years, centuries or millennium I have lived through in order to be with you again but it wasn't meant to be, at least not in this lifetime, my one and only love."** She finally said it, she loves him and she wanted him to know it before fading away.

"I love you too, Natsuki-chan. Please don't leave me alone, I'm so scared to be alone again, you're everything I have in this world." The boy cried his heart out as Natsuki continued to disappear. He could only watch helplessly as her body glowed for the last time and Youki leaked out of her to go into his own body.

"**Uzumaki Naruto, here is my final command for you. Do not live in the past, you are the only man I ever loved, you are destined to greatness. I want you to forget everything about me and forge your own path. You have all my former powers, use them as you wish as you are now the most powerful human being that ever walked this earth ..."** Were the last words of Uzumaki Natsuki, Naruto's first wife, even if no one knew about her beside him.

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

"_I'm sorry Na-chan, I didn't obey your last order, I didn't forget about you. You lied to me too so I guess we're even ..." _Naruto thought as he finally fell asleep. He was alone inside his mindscape, the place had not changed much. The house was still there instead of the giant cage that used to be the seal. The only thing that changed was the weather, ever since that fateful night, it rained in the forest around the house, it never stopped raining in the past decade.

* * *

**Fire Country – Konohagakure**

* * *

The whole assembly was silent and all eyes were focused on the man brought before them, as they waited for him to answer their Hokage's question. The prisoner stood up from his position and took a deep breath before saying the following words in quite a bad Japanese.

"I am Sojiro. I serve as a Captain in the army of his Majesty, Kaido, Emperor of the South. My ship was destroyed in battle against the man you call Kuro Kitsune." The man identified as Sojiro said.

"Of what land do you speak about ? Who is this Kaido ?" Homura asked, a question that was indeed in the minds of every Council members present inside the chamber.

"What do you mean what land ? How can you not know about his Majesty ?" The captive seemed genuinely surprised about his interrogators' ignorance. The experienced shinobi inside the chamber saw no deception in his body language.

"Answer the question." Danzo simply said, his face not betraying any form of emotion.

"I'm not sure how to answer your question … Where to start … Very well, the world as we know it is divided in five area. The ocean is covering most of the territories, and it also defines the borders between each domains." Sojiro said, letting the audience some time to digest what he announced.

"My liege, his Majesty Kaido is ruling over the Southern seas. The man you call Kuro Kitsune rules over the Eastern seas and this island, your land, is part of the borders, a territory between the South and the East. Our spies detected his flag ship sailing toward your position and I was sent in order to investigate his presence in the area." Sojiro continued his story, shocking several people among the audience as he described a world that was beyond everything they could have imagined.

"How did he defeat you, when and where was it ?" Shikaku asked, as a fine tactician, this was the kind of information he needed to know above all, more important than the rest of that man's story, as captivating as it could have been. Danzo didn't stop him, the Hawk knew Shikaku didn't ask those questions randomly.

"I should have known you wouldn't know about _that_ _man_ either. I'm not exactly sure as to where that battle took place, it was night time and the weather was quite bad. Seeing the danger that the Kuro Kitsune represents, I had a full fleet of our best ships under my command, ten warships and four support frigates. We only had the orders to observe and report, under no circumstances were we to engage him in battle. However, they appeared out of nowhere ..." Sojiro seemed to visualize the scene again, as his whole body started to shake in fear of what he remembered.

"It was a massacre, we knew the Kuro Kitsune would be there but our data was incomplete. What we didn't know was that he would have the Da Ten'shi with him on board. It was over before it even started. I assume by my presence here that I am the sole survivor. I don't know how long I stayed in the water but one thing is sure, there is something on this continent he wishes to hide from the rest of the world, something important enough for him to risk open war with the Southern Empire." The man stopped there, this was everything he knew or was willing to tell for now.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now. I know it's been a while since my previous update, but, I had some very bad events in my personal life that took my time away. My father had a heart attack and I was in and out of the intensive care unit everyday for the last few days.

* * *

Well, I hope this chapter answered your questions about Natsuki and Naruto's relationship and his current condition as a jinchuriki. There is still a large part of his life that remains to be told, from the moment he lost Natsuki to his return to the Elemental Nations. This will be treated in the forms of flashbacks as well, not immediately though, as I want to advance more with the current timeline.

Also gave out more information about Tayuya's background story, I hope this is believable enough and I will give more details about her supposed bloodline later on. You can pretty much guess how she will switch sides as well, with the new element I added in this chapter about her.

Finally, my vision of the world around the Elemental Nations has also been updated a little, at least you know his strength in the rest of the world. He is one the big shots and I'm not sure if and when the story will focus on the outside world but for now, it's all about the Elemental Nations.

Alright then, please read and review, I appreciate all the inputs you can give me about my story.


	13. Revelations and Betrayal

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

Sorry about the late release and thanks to those of you who had expressed their concerns about my father's health. He's out of danger for now but still very weak, I'm having a crappy month and did not really have the mindset to write for quite some time.

That being said, I had a really hard time trying to find some nice story to read that's not Naruto x Hinata or Sakura or Sasuke or huge ass harem that makes no sense and I am considering mine as being already pretty large. So, I decided to write again to get my mind off the crappy things I'm currently going through ...

Now about the previous chapter, I know many of my regular readers were sad about Natsuki's fate, but don't worry, good things will happen for him too. I felt that Naruto losing someone really close to him was something that would make him grow stronger and give him a purpose in his life. What that particular purpose is, remains unknown for now though.

There was no complain about the setting for Naruto to be a ruler of the seas and the introduction of one of his rival. The focus of the story is not on that part yet, Naruto still have things to accomplish in the Elemental Nations ...

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 13 : Revelations and Betrayal**

* * *

**Hot Spring Country - Port town**

A week had gone by without Tayuya nor her group finding anything of worth about the mysterious Kuro no Kitsune. The meeting they scheduled with Kabuto was coming soon but they had yet to make any progress in their mission, something the red head couldn't afford with her flawless record of successfully completed missions under Orochimaru's orders.

There was something else on her mind though, she didn't encounter Naruto even once after she had witnessed him taking out those scums that tried to hit on her in the bar. Apparently, she was the only one to have heard him call out the Uzumaki name while launching his strange jutsu, as no one in her group made any mentions about it afterward.

Tayuya had used part of her time while searching for information about the Kuro Kitsune to also try to meet up with Naruto again, with no success though, since the man was nowhere to be found, just like her official target, it seems. Today was the last chance to find him, since they would have to go back to Oto the following day.

It was still early in the morning and the people of that small town were still waking up and opening their shops. Tayuya couldn't sleep at all last night, spending the night on the roof of her hotel, lost in her thoughts about Naruto and her Uzumaki origins. Seeing the sun rising, she decided to go back in and wake her team for their last day in this town.

* * *

**Other side of the town, with Naruto**

* * *

On the rooftop of his hotel, mirroring the object of his thoughts, Naruto gazed at the horizon in the direction of Tayuya's location. He had received a detailed report from Rana and Stella about her and was surprised at what they found out about the fiery red head. Tayuya, no official family name, was in fact a high ranking officer in the army of Orochimaru, renegade Sannin of Konohagakure and the leader of Otogakure, the Hidden village of the Sound.

Her profile in the bingo book was quite easy to find, since she opted for non genjutsu disguise in her current mission, most likely in order to not attract the attention of chakra sensors. Naruto also knew that he probably was the target of said mission, since he visited Konoha and subsequently destroyed their Hokage monument, he became someone that would attract the attention from their enemies.

This complicated things a bit for the blond, he didn't expect her to be a part of one of the two major players on the chessboard of the Elemental Nations. Tayuya Uzumaki, since his previous blood test confirmed her Uzumaki origins, was also the leader of an elite cell of kunoichi named the Diva. Its members were all specialized in genjutsu. Even if they hid their presence quite well, the rest of her team was found out as well, since they all lived in the same hotel.

Naruto had the intention to reveal himself to Tayuya when he discovered that she was from his clan but had to delay it when he received the report about her. There was also the thing with the shadow that followed her, a cloaked person was spying on Tayuya ever since she arrived in town. When he was informed about it, Naruto asked Rana and Stella to find out everything they could about it but said shadow seemed to be highly secretive and never revealed its face.

All things considered and spending the whole night to think about it, the blond decided to proceed with his original thought to formally introduce himself to Tayuya. Life is too short and he couldn't risk to lose this opportunity so he made up his mind and then went back inside to go join the girls.

* * *

**Hot Spring Country, Fifty miles away to the South**

* * *

Countless shadows were swarming inside the forest fifty miles away from Naruto's current place, all heading toward this location. They were as silent as humanly possible, making almost no sounds as they leaped from one tree to another in a single column formation type.

The leader or at least the one in front of their group, suddenly stopped as he landed on a huge tree. Never making any sound nor turning back toward his followers, he lifted his right hand in a fist, raised above his shoulder. The group seemed to understand this signal and immediately stopped as well.

A single nod from the leader to one of them in the center of their group was enough for the receiver to start going through hand signs. After a short series of hand signs, the person stopped and expelled chakra in all direction, signaling the end of the casting from a jutsu.

"The jutsu is complete, we have a silencing zone covering all of our group for three hours." He said as he dropped on one knee in front of the leader. He was soon joined by all the other shadows as the group mirrored his actions and knelled in front of the man.

"Very well, the operation starts at noon. All operative stand down and rest for now." The leader said.

* * *

**Back in town, around noon**

* * *

It was almost noon and Naruto made his way toward the place where he knew he could find Tayuya. During her stay in town, she and her group had assumed different fake identities to blend in with the people around, most likely in order to gather data on him for Orochimaru.

Sasame and Kagero worked in a bar as waitresses, Kotohime acted as a musician in the same place. This was a good place to meet lots of different people and gather information, either by discretely listening to their conversations or even better, by casually talking with them as their job required them to.

Kin worked near the marketplace in a small shop that was selling jewelry, something she was quite familiar with, considering her choice of weapon. That was also a strategic point to gather data about their target and meet people from the other businesses around the market.

Finally there was Tayuya, she assumed a position that really seemed out of character for her. The fiery red head had chosen to act as a teacher assistant in one of the school of the town. When the others questioned her about her choice, she simply replied that contrary to adults, children didn't feel the need to lie or restrain themselves when speaking about such things as a hero, there was a good chance for them to know something.

The Diva could see some truth in her reasoning and decided to go with it. Every member of their little group could be very persuasive when they wanted to, so it wasn't really hard to get all those jobs. Aside from being accomplished kunoichi, they also were very talented women in the civilian 'tasks' they chose to perform.

* * *

**With Tayuya**

* * *

The leader of the Diva was in the playground of the school where she played her part as the new teaching assistant. Children were running around her as their morning classes were over, ready to start lunch.

Truth to be told, Tayuya always wanted to be a teacher when she was little, the same occupation her late mother used to have. She lost track of her mission quite a number of times during her stay here, with those children. She let her guard down for a moment, smiling as she gazed at the kids around.

This was the vision that Naruto was greeted with when he arrived at the school. He had once again assumed his fake identity with the red hair and no mask, in order for 'Yuya' to remember him. That was also to keep his real identity hidden from the people around.

"Long time no see, Yuya-san. I never took you for the teaching kind though, this is quite a surprise." Naruto said as he revealed himself to Tayuya.

"Naruto-san !" Tayuya yelled out, surprised to see the man she was obsessed about almost all week. This got the attention of all the other teachers around and the children as well. The red head blushed profusely at this and found the ground really interesting for couple of seconds.

Seeing that Naruto was an acquaintance of their new teacher, everyone returned to their meals and left them alone. Well, almost everyone as a couple of girls stayed and started to give Naruto weird looks.

"Yuya Sensei, who is he ?" "Sensei, is he your boyfriend ?" Were questions that flew around as an embarrassed Tayuya tried to not blush while finding answers for them.

"What ? No, He's just a ..." She couldn't find the right word to go after that.

"Sorry girls, could you leave me alone with your sensei for a moment ? I'm just a friend, my name is Naruto. Here, I'll give you this if you're nice." Naruto said as he took out some sort of candies from his pocket. The two little girls' eyes shined as they saw the bribe Naruto had for them and immediately complied with his request.

"That's quite unexpected, you're pretty good with children as well, Naruto-san." Tayuya said.

Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head, a vision of himself handling his wives / girlfriends the same way he did with those little girls when said women were getting out of hand flashed in his mind.

"Hum, I must be natural at this." He replied with a smile. Tayuya was in the middle of her meal as well, with a packed lunch she probably bought on her way to school. Naruto decided to take a seat next to her. They were just far enough from the other people around to not be overheard.

"Where did you come from ? I haven't seen you around lately, I was wondering what you became after the last time we met." Tayuya started the conversation again.

"I've been pretty busy with a project of mine so I didn't get to go out a lot after that." Naruto replied, trying to figure out if she was grilling him for information about himself, Naruto the traveler, or for her mission on his other profile.

"It's unfair, now you know I'm a teacher but you never mentioned what you did for a leaving." She went on with her questions. She knew he was no mere businessman, the skills he showed were on par with those from a highly trained warrior. If she had to scale him from a ninja point of view, he could easily reach the jonin level.

Seeing where this was going, Naruto closed his eyes and heavily sighed. She had no reason to trust him if he didn't take the first step himself. With that in mind, he prepared himself for the next phase of this conversation.

"I haven't been really truthful with you about who I am, Tayuya." He said, stopping the red head in her track as she was about to take another bite of her lunch. Him using her true and complete name was not something she expected.

"_Fuck, how did he know my real name ? Did I screw up somewhere along the conversation ?"_ She thought as many questions assaulted her mind. Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Naruto decided to continue.

"Yes, I know who you really are and what you are doing in this town. I'm sorry I lied but you did too, my real name is Uzumaki Naruto and I think you know we have something in common." He explained. He was about to go on when he saw her starting to pull out a kunai out of nowhere.

"Easy now, you don't want to do this in front of all these children, do you ?" It was instantaneous, Naruto blocked her wrist before she could even reveal the blade of her kunai. The two stayed like that for a moment but Naruto noticed something, her hand was shaking.

"W-What do you want me to say ? To hear the Uzumaki name again after such a long time feels like a dream to me. I decided a long time ago to forsake my birth name, thinking I was the last one alive. But then you came into my life, I saw you the other night when you used that move. This made me remember who I was and that's the reason why I didn't report you to my team or my superiors." She said as she put the kunai back in its place, tears falling down on her beautiful face.

Naruto still had a hand holding hers as he never let go even after she put the kunai away. That's why he didn't feel the impending danger that appeared behind them as a strange looking kunai, all made of crystal, made its way behind his head. Tayuya saw it coming though, since she was looking in the right direction.

She acted on instinct, not sure if she was the target or Naruto was, she put herself in front of him. It happened so fast Naruto never saw it coming, one moment he was holding the hand of his long lost distant relative and the next she was bleeding to death in his arms with a kunai lodged in her back.

"Y-You bitch, Guren. How dare you attack me ?" Tayuya managed to say despite her injury. In the back appeared the same cloaked shadow that had been following her all week, except that this time it pulled its cloak away to reveal a woman, named Guren if what Tayuya said was relevant.

That Guren wore red lipstick, had fair skin, dark eyes and light blue hair which she kept in a spiky ponytail with long strands of hair framing her face. Her outfit consisted of a green dress with a long left sleeve and a short right one, a red turtle-neck which had a white, fluffy collar and brown gloves. For her shoes, she wore calf-length brown sandal boots.

"You ask me this knowing how you've betrayed Orochimaru-sama. I never trusted you, nor did he for that matter. He will be pleased to know about your origins and how I dispatched you and your little boyfriend over there before you could run away with him." Guren replied as she prepared to move against Naruto.

Cries of panic erupted in the normally peaceful schoolyard as teachers and children saw that scene. Naruto slowly put Tayuya's body down on the ground and stood up to face Guren. She was soon joined by numerous other shadows, dressed like she was just a moment ago before revealing her face to the couple.

"N-Naruto, you have to leave me behind. I hate to say this but she's as strong as me and the others aren't pushovers either. They are from Sonido, Otogakure's black ops division with each and every last one of them as strong as a high jonin." Tayuya told Naruto.

"This is indeed a situation one would desperately try to avoid." Naruto announced as he took a step forward in front on Tayuya's body. She smiled, thinking that she managed to convince him to leave her to save his own life.

"However …" Naruto continued as he suddenly expelled a small dose of chakra in every direction, burning away the red dye in his hair. "I didn't have the time to finish my sentence earlier. I too, had an ace up my sleeve ..." The now blond Naruto said as he extended his arms in front of him.

"**Uzumaki Kenpo : Seikuken."** Naruto called out as he put up his guard.

"_Wait a minute … Blond hair, blue eyes, his presence in this town … could it be ?"_ Tayuya analyzed as she slowly but surely put every pieces of the puzzle together with widened eyes as she realized who Naruto really is.

"You should have listened to your little girlfriend here and run away while you could. I don't know who you are but this is the end for you. Do it, kill him, I don't really care that much about the man but I want you to bring me Tayuya alive." Guren shouted.

"Wait Guren ! You don't understand, he's ..." Tayuya tried to stop them but was too late as the group of ten shinobi was already at arm's length, all around the blond. They had all opted for a short range confrontation since silent assassination was their specialty. As such, they all charged at the pair with kunai.

To everyone but Tayuya, who was close enough to observe him, Naruto seemed to be unmoving as the men charged at him. While it's true that his feet didn't move at all, his arms though, flew around so fast that they left behind the optical illusion that they too were static.

"_Impossible, he somehow managed to not only block all of their attacks but he also launched his own counters against them all."_ Tayuya was astonished at what had just happened in front of her. Guren, though, did not find that scene to be so amusing and started to sweat as she saw the blond making his way toward her.

"_Damn, what the heck was that ? It was as if he had one of those chakra shield the Hyuga use in Konohagakure. I underestimated him, I need to get the hell out of here and report my findings to Orochimaru-sama. Now, let's see what I can use to my advantage ..."_ She then scanned through her surroundings until she saw that couple of girls to whom Naruto had earlier offered the candies to.

"Kya, help me !" One of the young girl screamed out as Guren grabbed her and pointed a crystal kunai at her jugular. Tayuya's and Naruto's eyes widened as they saw this, cursing the crystal user for being such a coward.

With one swift movement, Guren threw the little girl in the air at an impressive height, far away from Naruto and Tayuya. The red head tried to stand up but finally passed out from all the blood that she lost from her first injury. Naruto immediately jumped out and caught the girl but as he landed, Guren was nowhere to be found and most likely already making her way out of this city.

Naruto comforted the traumatized girl and then apologized to the other teachers from that school. He quickly sealed away the bodies of the Oto shinobi he killed, not too keen on burning them in front of such a young audience. He had to hurry back to his hotel too, for Miya to tend to Tayuya's injuries.

"_I'll have to get everyone out of this town as soon as possible. That Guren woman is bound to call out for reinforcement when she gets in contact with the snake. We can't move toward our next stop right away either, the road toward that area will soon be swarmed with Oto shinobi."_ Naruto, with Tayuya in his arms bridal style, thought as he moved back toward his hotel.

However, as soon as he reached the building's vicinity, the city's alarm bells rung out. He then saw people running around, in a panicked state, trying to get all the stuff they could carry with them as they fled from the city.

"Naruto-kun !" Miya and all the girls suddenly appeared around him, also alerted by the bells.

"What's going on with this city ?" Naruto asked Galatea. The sensor closed her eyes and then turned her head toward the South. She also frowned when she felt what was happening in that direction. It was one of those rare occasion where you could see the normally stoic Galatea show some emotion and Naruto immediately noticed his wife's reaction.

"What did you felt, honey ? It's far too soon for it to be Oto, what's going on ?" He asked her again.

"It's the Leaf, I feel some chakra signatures I already felt in their village while we were there. They are attacking this city as we speak, there are at least three hundred of them, all jonin level at least." She replied while Naruto tightened his hold on Tayuya's body in anger. Seeing this, Miya then took over for him and started to give the red head first medical treatment.

"We're leaving." Naruto announced, not missing the shocked looks on the younger Rana and Stella.

"But Naruto-kun, we could ..." Stella stated to protest but was stopped mid sentence by Miria.

"Don't you think he would stay and fight if he thought it was safe for us to do so ? Just do as he says we need to get out of here before it's too late." Miria told her, they could see the anger in Naruto's stance as he stared in the direction of the invaders.

"Where are we heading for, Naruto-kun ?" Kazehana asked her husband.

"_Damn that Danzo. He's targeting a known location where I have economic partners, I guess it was a wise choice to send Jiji toward Wave. I hope the folks over there are okay."_ He thought.

"It's a bit sooner than what I had in mind but we have no choice, we head Northeast, for Kumo." He replied as the group moved on. Miya still had Tayuya with her as she continued to heal the newest addition in their group.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now. Please read and review.

* * *

Well, how was it ? I'm pretty sure most of you thought the shadows were Otogakure's forces when the town was attacked. Is it really over, and who is in that task force that is storming the city ?

What do you think about the way Tayuya is 'added' into Naruto's group ? It is of course far from a romantic relationship at the moment but now there's a chance for it to properly happen. I didn't forget about the Diva either, we'll see their fate in the next chapter.

Next time will set the action in Kumo, we'll learn more about their involvement in this war and how it came to be. What is Naruto's purpose to go there anyway ? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out :)

* * *

**New Jutsu :**

* * *

**Uzumaki Kenpo : Seikuken**, translates as Uzumaki Martial Arts, Control of the Air Sphere. This is a defensive move that greatly enhances its user's reflexes and reaction time in order for said user to defend against external attacks and counter them accordingly.


	14. The Enemy of my Enemy

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

I know it's been a while since I last updated my story, I'm quite sorry about this. I won't bore you with the details of my personal life and how it affects my writing so let's move on with the story.

Previous chapter introduced Tayuya's forced entry into Naruto's group with the appearance of Guren and her discovery of the red head's betrayal. Some of you were surprised at how easily Naruto was outdone by Guren, letting Tayuya take the hit for him. Let's hope this chapter pleases you then …

There were some questions and demands for more flashbacks as well, to describe more of Naruto's past. I feared the readers would be bored with too much of those so I only limited it to the part that explains his current jinchuriki status. I'll take these demands into consideration if this is really what you want but keep in mind that it slows down the pace of the story.

It would seem my decision to 'censor' myself and take out the lime I wrote for Kaze no Kami was a good decision. Some said it would pass and that the risk was reduced but a story I had been reading for quite some time now has just been axed by the admins, it had something like 2K reviews. Such a waste …

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

**Chapter 14 : The Enemy of my Enemy**

* * *

**Wave Country – Tazuna's hometown**

Tazuna watched with regret the destroyed bridge that used to connect his hometown to Fire country. They had paid a heavy tribute for its construction after his son in law Kaiza was murdered upon its completion by Gato, the local Yakuza Lord. The village had then faced dark times before its citizens found the courage to step up against the villain's oppression and got rid of him with some help from the mysterious Kuro no Kitsune.

"Are you alright, Tazuna-san ?" A familiar voice disturbed Tazuna in his thoughts.

"I'm fine, Sarutobi-sama. Once again I'd like to thank you for your help." The bridge builder replied as he bowed down before Sarutobi Hiruzen. The former Sandaime Hokage of Konoha chuckled at the gesture.

"Please, just call me Hiruzen. You don't have to thank me either, your village is an important partner of ours after all. This was perfectly normal for us to protect our economic assets by defending your land against those invaders." The veteran replied.

"Nevertheless, I have to say I'm impressed by your skills. We're both old men but you can still wipe the floor with those young men." Tazuna said with a sigh while he saw the multiple bodies laying on the floor or in the water before them.

"I was born, raised and lived like a warrior all my life, that's all. It's a shame we had to destroy that bridge though, I had hoped it wouldn't come to that but I guess I was wrong, damn them." Hiruzen said, cursing Danzo for his recklessness.

"Don't worry about that, better lose the bridge than our village or lives. It's true that in the first years after its completion, our connection to the continent greatly improved our economic status. Ever since we overthrew Gato with your help, our economy relied more on the trades we do with you and all the merchants from the sea than on the income the bridge used to bring. That's why it's not such a big deal, the bridge only held a sentimental value to some of us but we'll be fine even without it." Tazuna assured him.

After that both men made their way back toward the village, each of them had important things to do. Tazuna for his part had to set up a meeting with all the villagers and inform them on how they would survive from now on without the bridge. Hiruzen needed to report back to Naruto about the battle they just went through, for behind them laid the bodies of fifty dead ROOT operatives, sent by Danzo to raze another trading post that did business with Naruto to the ground.

* * *

**Frost Country**

* * *

Naruto and the girls were traveling with moderate speed toward their next destination, Lightning Country. They were currently crossing through Frost Country, a land covered in snow and whose temperature was always freezing cold. As a consequence, not many people could survive in those desolate parts of the Elemental Nations. There was however one huge village in the center of the territory, Shimogakure.

It was still far away from their current position though, since their pace was greatly slowed down by the extra package they had picked up in Hot Spring Country. Tayuya was currently in Naruto's arms, still asleep and recovering from the injury Guren gave her. Miya and the other girls had offered to switch with him and carry her but Naruto declined, saying that he had the highest stamina pool and also that Tayuya was his responsibility.

"_Responsibility … I failed again, I just let my concentration slip for a second and the enemy took advantage of it. I have to get her out of this mess, she covered the fact that she knew me and was punished for it. This is my fault once again ..."_ Naruto thought as flashes of his past assaulted him. The memory of his last moments with Natsuki as well as the sacrifice she made in order for him to survive, he was reminded of those as he held onto Tayuya's body whose long red hair reminded him of his first love.

The other girls could see Naruto's distress but chose to not disturb him for the moment and traveled in silence, a amazing feat considering how rowdy Stella and Rana usually are on the road. Galatea was the one to break the silence though, as her sensory skills picked up something from their rear.

"We've got company, the leaf is on our tail with the same group that attacked in Hot Spring Country. At our current pace, they will catch up to us in less than one hour." She announced to the group. It was obvious they would have been able to shake the pursuers off if it wasn't for Tayuya's condition but Naruto was not about to risk her life. The blond suddenly stopped in his track as he landed on a tall tree, surprising the group.

"Miya, you will lead the girls and our guest toward the next extraction point. You all know the way, it should take you approximately two days to reach it from here. If I'm not there in three days, you will proceed with the plan and rejoin the fleet at our alpha site. This is a direct ..." He was about to go on when he fell a surge of energy from around him. His eyes widened as he saw his wives take position all around him.

"Do not finish that sentence, Naruto-kun." Kazehana said first, her voice was lacking its usual jovial tone.

"She's right, even if we can understand your reasons, we will not leave you behind. There is nothing you can say to make us change our mind." Miria added.

"It is our duty as well as our right to stand by your side, in sickness and in health." Galatea spoke her mind too.

"Rana, Stella, take Tayuya with you and do as Naruto-kun said. I know you want to stay as well but now is not the time to argue about that." The purple haired woman announced to the youngest ones in their group.

True to Miya's words Rana and Stella both wanted to stay back and fight but chose to comply with the older woman. Seeing Naruto's worried state was enough for them to put their pride aside and do what they were asked to. They retrieved Tayuya's body from Naruto and immediately left the area. Naruto had stayed silent the entire time, knowing that he would not win this argument with his four wives.

"I'm sorry girls, I know it was a selfish decision to ask you all to leave me behind." Naruto said as soon as the younger girls had left.

"Yes it was, but we all know that your intentions are pure so there is no need for you to apologize." Kazehana said as she stepped closer and hugged him from behind. They were soon joined by Miya, Miria and Galatea as Naruto let his wives comfort him in this moment of doubt.

"How many of them can you count, Galatea-chan ?" Naruto asked the sensor.

"Hmm around fifty plus. It seems that none of them stayed behind in Hot Spring Country, though I wonder if I made a miscalculation back then, there are more of them than I previously counted." She replied, her head was turned toward the South where she knew the enemies were coming from.

"Most likely a hit-and-run operation. Their goal was not to occupy the village, they were trying to cripple it. Danzo is hitting a place known for doing business with us, I hope the folks in Wave are fine." Miria analyzed.

"How did they find out about us though ? We left shortly before their arrival and made sure to not let any trace of our presence behind." Kazehana wondered. Miya's eyes widened as she seemed to realize something from her friend's last assessment.

"Galatea, please concentrate on their group again. Can you feel the presence of that Crystal user among them ?" She asked in a hurry, showing in her eyes that she already knew the answer to her question. Galatea closed her eyes in order to increase her concentration and frowned at what she found out.

"You are correct, it's faint but I can feel it now that they are a bit closer to us. I don't really know why someone from Orochimaru's elite forces would side with Danzo's lackeys though." Galatea reported to the group as she reopened her eyes.

"We will worry about this later, let's prepare to meet them for the moment. I was caught off guard last time, it won't happen again." Naruto spoke out, stopping their conversation as he started to let his chakra out.

"What's the strategy, Naruto-kun ?" Miria asked, as she and the girls all took out their respective swords.

"You will show them no quarters, only that woman and the one leading the Leaf's troops are to be spared if you end up fighting them. The rest of them is fair game, it is time we send a message to those leaders or theirs ..." Naruto replied, completely focused.

* * *

**With the pursuers**

* * *

Not far from Naruto's group, a disturbing yet intriguing scene took place. Moving almost side by side, Sonido and Root's operatives were making their way toward their common objective. There were about forty Root members leaping from tree to tree while twenty Sonido men moved below them on the ground without making any sound.

Leading the ground troops was Guren, left hand of Orochimaru and Head of the Black Ops division. In front of the Konoha troops was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, making no attempt to hide his ID contrary to the men under his command. The black haired commander was the only one not wearing the white mask that symbolized his organization.

Looking toward the ground Sasuke observed his new temporary "allies" and thought about how that particular situation came to be. The memories of his first meeting with that woman commanding the equivalent of Roots in Oto still fresh in his mind …

* * *

_Flashback: Port Town, a few hours ago._

* * *

The mission was far too easy, the people in this town did not even try to resist when his men started to slaughter them. It felt as if they knew something like that was going to happen to them and chose to not struggle against their fate.

Roots operatives were trained to show no emotion, they performed their tasks without any restrain or afterthought. Sasuke was an exception among them, smirking like a madman as he killed people on his way.

The Leaf task force continued to advance unchallenged toward its true objective, the town's docks. Their goal was to destroy every ship they could find and then burn the Port to the ground, leaving no spot for the Kuro no Kitsune to park his ships. Hot Spring and Wave countries were the only two neutral territories that had the infrastructure to accommodate large ships like the ones their sworn enemy was seen riding.

Sasuke, newly promoted to the rank of Commander among Danzo's forces, had chosen the Northern Path and Hot Spring. The second platoon that departed with them took the direction of East, toward Wave, under the command of another Root commander. The Uchiha heir knew that North would be more dangerous since it was closer to the enemies' lines, he was looking for some action ever since his promotion and this mission presented the perfect challenge for him to prove his worth.

There were rumors about Hot Spring being under the control of the Alliance but so far they had seen no trace of either Kumo or Oto shinobi. Sasuke had been pretty disappointed so far to not have any resistance from the locals but this suddenly changed when a salve of kunai stopped them. There was no casualty since the projectiles had been fired at their feet, most likely as a warning shot.

In front of them stood a group of Oto shinobi, all wearing masks like his own men, most likely the infamous Sonido division, a perfect match for Root. Sasuke estimated that they had fewer men than him, not by much though and some of them were injured. They must have been in another fight not that long ago, by the look of the wounds some of them had.

Nevertheless, Sasuke knew this was a fight neither side would come out unscathed. He was an elite Uchiha and the current Hokage's apprentice, but his men were not and he knew he would lose a lot of them in a direct confrontation with Sonido Troops. This was his first mission with this rank and he was not too thrilled about going home after that to report that he lost a bunch of his men.

Both sides were about to engage the other when a wall of crystal suddenly appeared between them.

"Stand down, Sonido." A woman yelled as she appeared on top of the crystal wall that had just been erected between the two groups. Both commanding officers seemed to recognize the other one and a staring contest started between the two of them. Analyzing their options, they stayed silent for quite some time before Guren started the "negotiations".

"You are quite far from home, Uchiha Sasuke. What is the Hokage's apprentice doing in this part of the world ?" She asked, studying his every move.

"I'm here to destroy the port, step aside or die, woman." Sasuke replied, ignoring the Oto nin taking out their kunai as he had just threatened their leader.

"Oh, so this was a retaliation against the Kuro No Kitsune for what he did to you back there in your village. I guess destroying all of his trading posts could count as an effective way to cripple him and his economy. Too bad you just missed the show though ..." Guren announced, waiting for a reaction

to the bait she just threw out.

"What are you talking about, speak if you don't want to die !" He yelled. The Oto kunoichi smirked when she saw how the young and inexperienced commander had fallen right into her trap. She had doubt on whether she could take on Tayuya's mysterious savior. However with the cooperation from that idiot, she now had more than enough firepower at her disposal.

"Well you see, we're here to track down a traitor and she might just know the whereabouts of the man you seek to destroy ..." Guren replied, not knowing how close from the truth her bluff was.

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

Thus was born the temporary alliance between two supposedly mortal enemies who shared the same objective. Well, not exactly the same, since Guren was after Tayuya while Sasuke was chasing after Naruto's ghost. Neither of them worried about the means to reach their goal, as long at it got the job done.

* * *

**Timeskip, Two hours after that**

* * *

True to Galatea's predictions, the Leaf & Sound joint forces reached Naruto's previous position in two hours. Upon their arrival, sensors from each side picked up several disturbances in the chakra flow around them and immediately stopped in order to investigate.

"What's the hold up ?" Guren asked her subordinate. She was mirrored by Sasuke as he questioned his own sensor about their sudden stop. The two shinobi simultaneously recognized the signs from the aftereffects of a wide range genjutsu, unfortunately for them quite too late.

"**Authorization to unlock level one abilities temporary granted, target A and B confirmed."** A distorted voice boomed all around them, most likely resulting form the genjutsu trap they had just walked into.

The pursuers tensed when they heard the voice, more so from its tone than from the contents. They all jumped into a circular formation both on the ground and in the trees, with Sasuke and Guren in the middle.

Four distinctive sounds which all the shinobi on the field recognized as the dispelling of a shadow clone were heard. Not even a second passed after that when four pillars of light emerged from the four corners of the zone around them, forming a perfect square.

From the North and the South positions, appeared Miya and Kazehana. Gone were Miya's neutral face or Kazehana's joyful expression, they both showed the faces of veteran warriors that had both taken part in countless battles.

As impressive as this was, the most noticeable feat about their appearances were those two wings of light that appeared from their backs. Every shinobi around, sensor or not, could feel that those were made of and irradiated chakra, or at least something close and it.

From the East and West corners, Miria and Galatea slowly walked out. Not as obvious as Miya's or Kazehana's forms but they also had some sort of aura around their body that expelled godly amount of chakra in all directions.

As the first two, they both displayed another physical trait that caught the attention of their trapped audience. Both woman's eyes had turned into a shade of deep gold. Those could have almost been perceived as beautiful by the entrapped young men, if it wasn't for the fact that they projected such condensed dose of Killing Intent that it made Orochimaru's glare seem insignificant in comparison.

Their gaze sent chills down the spine of every single member from the Oto and Leaf squads, their commanders included. It was as if they were staring right at a demon or bijuu, there was something inhumane in those eyes.

Guren was the first to snap out of it and immediately took charge by reorganizing the troops around her and Sasuke. Four groups of ten shinobi were sent to the corners in order to deal with the women from Naruto's team. A core of twenty men remained behind, to ensure the safety of the commanders from the two groups.

* * *

**With Galatea**

* * *

"**Kori no Sekai."** Galatea called out as she leaped right into the group of ten enemies that moved in her sector. With an instant burst of energy, her opponents' movements were stopped, unable to even lift one finger against her. However, contrary to the version of that jutsu she had used on the island of Water Country, this time she gathered a lot more chakra.

"G-Get away from me, I can't control my body !" One of the trapped shinobi yelled out as his right hand took out several kunai from his pouch.

"We can't, she did something to us, my body won't respond either !" Another one shouted.

Guren, Sasuke and their bodyguards watched helplessly as Galatea manipulated the men under her control to kill each other. One by one they fell, moved by invisible hands that made them attack the closest ally. Soon enough there was only one of them left, terrorized by what had just transpired all around him.

"Please, don't kill me, I surrender !" He pleaded. Galatea looked at him through her golden irises as she once again used her jutsu to take over his body. The guy saw his own hand move backward and fish out a katana from his back. His voice died down soon after that as he cut off his own head with that katana.

"**Your wish is granted, I didn't kill you, you did."** Galatea spoke out as she watched his body fall to the ground.

"_What the hell ? Was that __Kugutsu, no, I couldn't see any chakra threads with my Sharingan. That wasn't the Yamanaka nor the Nara possession techniques either, there was no shadow and she had more than one body under her spell."_ Sasuke mused, unable to comprehend how that woman had just killed off ten highly trained warriors so easily.

* * *

**With Kazehana**

* * *

As soon as her wings of light dissipated, Kazehana took out her katana and started what looked like a strange ritual to those in front of her as she mumbled some words to herself. All the men in front of her could hear were those two words, as the blade of her sword glowed before it disappeared.

"**Chire, Senbonzakura."** She said as the blade of her katana turned into hundreds pink petals, all smaller than a shuriken. The wind picked up after that and the petals made their way toward their targets.

Contrary to the pirates in Water Country, the men from Sonido and Roots reacted quickly and put their guards up, not knowing what to expect from that weird attack. They knew they made a good choice when the projectiles started to shred everything around them and small cuts appeared all over their bodies.

Clothes were quickly torn away, that much was already surprising enough for people who had never seen the technique. However, what really caught the audience off guard was that weapons and all kind of armor pieces were also destroyed as they came in contact with the pink sparks. Soon enough the wind died down and the petals made their way back to Kazehana to become a single entity once more.

"Huh, if that's all you have girl, you're as good as dead." One of them told her as they started to run toward her.

"Your little trick may have surprised us but you'll need to do more than this to take us down, now die !" Another one yelled as they were now in striking range. Kazehana's only response was a sigh as they prepared their weapons against her.

However, a split second before the first of them could lay a finger on her, they all fell to their knees and coughed out blood. Not even five seconds after that had passed when the last of them died from some massive internal bleeding.

This time Sasuke managed to see a little bit of what had happened to his and Guren's men. Part of the explanation came from focusing his attention on the pink petals that she used in her move. For each cut they inflicted against an enemy, they released microscopic shards of chakra on impact in the supposedly superficial wounds.

"_That was unreal, even with my Sharingan I wasn't able to count the precise amount of shards that were released for a single wound. Those fools were dead meat the moment they let those particles scratch their skin."_ The Uchiha captain analyzed in his mind again. He was starting to worry about the outcome of the fight as his men and 'allies' were falling one after another like flies.

* * *

**With Miria**

* * *

Miria moved toward her opponents, slowly taking out her huge sword as she went. Just like Galatea she had some kind of a white aura surrounding her whole body, almost giving her the appearance of an angel. The golden eyes were there too of course, a sign that she had unlocked the first level from her powers.

"**Kamikakushi."** She said as a burst of chakra erupted from her feet. The blonde disappeared from her spot, only to reappear right after that in front of the group of soldiers that had been sent to deal with her.

A strange phenomenon happened right then in front of a stunned audience. Instead of surrounding her body the halo of light seemed to recede at first, but it then concentrated toward her right hand, the one holding her sword ...

The Oto and Leaf shinobi had seen what happened against Galatea or Kazehana and did not wish to share their defeated comrades' fate. They all sprung into action and launched everything they could against her. Since Miria was already in close range to them, thanks to her godlike speed, they could only use weapons against her. Ninjutsu would have caused inevitable collateral damage.

Katana, swords, ninjato, shuriken and kunai were drawn against her. It didn't seem to worry the woman as she still pressed forward, stoic as ever. Once she came at sword range from her first target the man immediately attacked, aiming for her neck with a powerful swing from his own sword.

All they heard was a 'clang' sound as the blade was somehow deflected by an invisible force. Soon after that a strange sound was heard, it was as if someone was relentlessly swinging a sword in the air. By that time Miria had already gone ahead of the first one when his body suddenly exploded in a shower of blood and torn organs.

The distorted sound was amplified as she continued forward, toward the rest of the group. The nine remaining shinobi all jumped her at the same time, hoping to increase their chance of success. They surrounded her from all side, some of them were also attacking from the air. A desperate move from them that didn't pay as the same thing happened and they all perished against that invisible swing of hers.

When Miria finally stopped her course, she was a mere feet away from the central group. The thing that stood out the most when looking at her was that her uniform and clothes had remained spotless despite all the blood and gore that fell around her due to that fighting style.

Once more the others and more specifically Sasuke had been stunned by the display of power from another woman in Naruto's team. The Sharingan could only spot a mere fraction of what had really happened, a godlike speed that far surpassed what he thought as humanly possible with individuals like Gai or Lee when opening their Eight Celestial Gates.

* * *

**With Miya**

* * *

The last woman in Naruto's group to take action was Miya. If what the reports said about her was true, then Sasuke and Guren were going to witness yet another display of power since that purple haired beauty was supposedly acting as the blond's second in command.

Similarly to the one who attacked with the petals, the Leaf and Oto forces saw that Miya also had wings of light in her back. No one really knew what those were but they could all feel the density from the chakra they expelled, it was as potent as the one a bijuu would release.

Miya did not even feel the need to move from her spot as she took a weird stance while holding out her katana. She seemed to concentrate for a moment as the wings of light slowly faded away. When they did, she started gathering chakra and prepared her next move.

The opposition had already lost all hope of winning this battle, seeing how merciless the three other women had been against their allies. Half of the fools standing before Miya panicked and tried to run away while she had yet to complete her preparations.

"Traitors ! I command you to hold your positions, cowards." Sasuke yelled out as he saw his agents falling back. Guren was also trying to prevent her men from deserting their positions, with no better luck than Sasuke. They were already far away from the scene, fleeing in all directions.

"**Ikorose, Shinso."** Miya announced during the confusion, always focused on her targets no matter how far they had gone. The blade of her katana glowed white for a mere second before it instantly expanded towards her targets.

The blade disappeared in the trees during what felt like an eternity to those who watched the scene from afar when it actually lasted a couple of seconds. Tall trees were cut down a fell in the process but five distinctive shouts were heard throughout the forest covered in snow. As fast as it expanded the blade then retracted back, a small trail of blood leaking from it. It left not much wondering as to the fates of those five who had previously escaped.

Those who had remained behind somehow managed to overcome their fear long enough to put up their guards in anticipation of Miya's next attack. The purple haired lieutenant paid them no mind and slowly approached their position, keeping the length of her katana to its usual sealed state. A single swing of her sword was enough to cut through her five remaining opponents, regardless of what they used to try and counter her. Steel, iron, armored clothes and flesh … everything split in half as she completed her swing.

During all this, Guren even tried to deploy a crystal wall around them from her position, a useless move seeing how the structure crumbled under the sharpness of Miya's attack.

"_Those monsters ... A swing that cannot be blocked right after the other one and that swing that could not be seen. The two blondes also used some strange techniques. This is bad we are sitting ducks right here, now that they've destroyed the outer guards."_ Sasuke tried to think of a plan before the enemy could finish them off.

* * *

**With the central group**

* * *

Miya, Galatea, Miria and Kazehana stood at the corners in a cardinal position around Sasuke's and Guren's last troops. From their original sixty soldiers, only twenty remained now, after Naruto's wives had evened the odds. They were about to charge in to finish the job when they heard Guren ordering something to her last four men.

They immediately jumped in front of Naruto's lieutenants in a square formation and called out some kind of jutsu upon their leader's commands.

"**Shishienjin !"** They all yelled in sync as a purple barrier appeared all around them. Miya leaped forward and attempted to cut down the defensive structure when Naruto finally made his presence known to the Konoha and Oto members.

"Hold !" He yelled, standing up from his position on the tallest tree around. No one had seen him so far from the pursuers' group, so it came as a surprise when the blond suddenly appeared, absolutely out of nowhere. Guren immediately recognized him, he was the same man that Tayuya defended a while ago in that village. An Uzumaki, if her information and what she overheard was true and also someone extremely powerful.

There was one person in their group however who knew who the man that had just joined them was, Sasuke's Sharingan eyes widened as he saw the shadows of Kuro no Kitsune and the man in front of him perfectly overlapping with each other, minus the mask.

"Hmm, a kekkai powered by chakra with permanent frequency modulation and a perfect balance between the four casters. Quite a strong one at that ..." Naruto mused out loud as he threw a large piece of wood against the barrier, only to see it instantly burn out on contact.

"Y-You are the Kuro no Kitsune ! I'll kill you for what you've done to our village." Sasuke yelled from inside their protection field, greatly surprising his men and allies. Guren was shocked too as she heard the news. Only now does she measure the extend of her actions, Orochimaru may think again before seeking an alliance with the man now, and it was her fault.

Nevertheless, taking into account her observations and Tayuya's betrayal, nothing more could have been done to prevent such a development. All she could think about for now, was how they could get out of this mess before the barrier that stands between them and those monsters breaks. Guren knew she still add an ace up her sleeve and started to analyze how she would take advantage of it.

Meanwhile, Naruto was testing the fortitude of the chakra wall by throwing diverse items against it such as small and larger rock or weapons of all kind and material. In the end the wall had remained spotless through all his attempts.

"You're not getting inside no matter how hard you try, this is a jutsu developed by Orochimaru-sama for such occasions and it will hold as long as it needs to, we do have all the time in the world but do you ?" Guren said as Naruto failed again to breach into the perimeter.

"What do you mean ? You're the one trapped like rats." Naruto asked, genuinely surprised by her assessment.

"Did you really think I would let that little traitor get away like this while we walk right into you ?" Guren said as Naruto's eyes widened, realizing what the crystal user meant. He immediately turned toward Galatea who silently nodded, understanding what was expected from her.

"She's telling the truth, I sense ten … no, wait … fifteen chakra signatures making their way toward Rana and Stella's group. They are about to make contact with them as we speak." Galatea reported.

As he heard his wife's report, Naruto's grip on a particularly large rock intensified, shattering it into pieces. That woman was right, he didn't have time for this anymore. The blond nodded to his wives who immediately got the message and disappeared in four bursts of speed toward the other group.

"I guess you do have a point, I can't waste any more time with you grunts right here. I will however leave you with a parting gift from mine. Orochimaru's jutsu is nothing to me, I was barely curious about it." Naruto announced as he bit his thumb and applied some blood to a seal on his left wrist.

The temperature seemed to drop a bit and the wind picked up as a long golden staff materialized in Naruto's hands. The blond gracefully swung it around his body in a circle, effortlessly switching its holding hand from left to right before he suddenly stopped, taking a stance and pointing one end of his weapon toward Sasuke and Guren.

"If swords or kunai could not get through, how is that going to help you ? Is that a Bo staff like our Sandaime used to wield, are you trying to copy his style or something ?" Sasuke smirked, believing that Naruto would make a fool out of himself.

"Hmm, not quite … as for how … let me show you why they call me a ruler of the Seas ..." Naruto replied as he channeled chakra throughout his body. The air became even colder than it already was and Naruto's weapon suddenly made a strange soothing sound. It glowed and suddenly three blades of chakra appeared from its end, revealing Naruto's weapon true form as a trident and not a staff.

"**Uzumaki Hijutsu : Tenso Jurin !"** Naruto called out as a beautiful yet terrifying vision appeared in front of Guren and Sasuke. From as far as their eyes could see, water was forcibly pulled out of the trees, ground, snow and air to travel from all directions toward a single point in space, Naruto's trident.

There was no need for a Sharingan to see what was happening, everything was visible to the naked human eye. First there was only drops of water but soon enough the pull transformed the drops into large tendrils as they all met into a single focal point. The water concentrated and was compressed into a singularity where the internal pressure must have been tremendous.

As the phenomenon stabilized and water stopped being pulled into Naruto's jutsu, bystanders saw the result, a spherical ball of water that floated at the end of his trident. The blond jumped high in the air and attached himself to the tallest tree with chakra before swinging his weapon one last time.

"Let's see you deal with this !" He yelled, as hell was unleashed above the square that was formed by the **Shishienjin**.

An extremely powerful and uninterrupted wave of water crashed against the barrier, producing high amounts of stream from the contact of the freezing water and the burning power of the chakra wall. The four shinobi keeping the wall up were sweating as it kept getting harder and harder to maintain their concentration.

The **Shishienjin** was perfect against focused attacks, like a sword cut or a kunai thrown at it. Even ninjutsu were supposedly ineffective against it, since nothing powerful would last long enough to really disturb the four casters inside. However, Naruto's current attack was the worst case scenario against it. Large area of effect and highly powerful, the use of the Suiton element, something that perfectly countered the burning powers of the wall. Finally, the fact that Naruto could keep up this assault for as long as he wanted with no trouble, as far as the water source was concerned, was also something no one would think possible, unless you are the reincarnation of the Nidaime Hokage.

They stood like this for a minute or two before the first man inside the formation released his hold on the jutsu, having spent all of his chakra reserves. This in turn started a chain reaction that ended with the other three casters also losing their focus before the wall finally cracked.

The torrent of freezing water washed all the remaining members of the task force away, including Sasuke and Guren. Said two were the only ones left alive after that, barely but still alive. Naruto slowly made his way toward them.

"I will let you two live so you can relay this to your masters. I will come for them next, tell Danzo that he'd better come himself with all his best fighters the next time he tries to take me down, not some newbie captain that can barely look after himself. Tell Orochimaru I would have declined the offer, had he come himself or had you not harmed Tayuya. As for the two of you, the next time we meet will be your last day on earth." He said before disappearing in a burst of chakra in the same direction his wives had gone off to.

* * *

**With Tayuya**

* * *

Rana and Stella stood next to each other on a battlefield where nine Oto and Leaf shinobi laid dead. There was only one of them left, however, the situation was not in favor of the two women from Naruto's crew.

"Drop your weapons or she dies !" Yelled the last shinobi, holding a captive Tayuya from behind with a kunai near her throat. The red head had just regained consciousness when she found herself in that situation.

"What the fuck, who the hell are you all and where the fuck am I ?" Came out of her mouth. She tried to free herself from the man but was still too weak to do so. In the confusion, the ninja was about to stab her when he felt something warm falling down his face. He died before he reaching the ground, a kunai lodged in the back of his head.

"What took you guys so long ?"

* * *

**A/N : **Cliffhanger power … Chapter is twice the size of what I usually release, as an apology for the delay since my last update. Please read and review.

* * *

I hope this pleases those of you who felt that Naruto got owned a little bit too fast by Guren in the previous chapter. We also had a peek into his wives' released powers, yes, he used **Norito** on Miya and Kazehana while the claymore, well this will be better described in another chapter but you can try to guess what he did :)

Who saved Tayuya ? Shouldn't be too hard to find out, I left enough hint as it is.

We finally see Naruto's weapon, as some of you guessed it is a Trident, something that fits for the Conqueror of the Seas, don't you think ?

Next time, they finally arrive in Kumo … See you there !

* * *

**New Jutsu :**

* * *

**Uzumaki Hijutsu : Tenso Jurin**, translates as Uzumaki Secret Arts : Subjugation of the Heavens. This is a complex jutsu that allows Naruto, with the use of his Trident, to pull toward him all the water in his immediate surroundings. The water is then compressed into a single ball, just like a Rasengan, before it is launched again against his enemies in a continuous stream of highly chakra charged water.


	15. Last One Standing

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

To those of you who knew about my previous work and thought I was trying to create a 'Mizu No Kami', well that isn't exactly true. This Naruto will not base everything he can do with the water element as a sole component. This is more related to the sea, so yes, water will be important but it won't be the only thing that matters.

Next, someone found out that Wave will play a big part in the next arc as the 'last' place where the blond would be able to freely exploit his naval supremacy. There was a slight misunderstanding about this as well. I said the last "neutral" territory where this was possible, the word is important.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 15 : Last One Standing**

* * *

**Frost Country, Shimogakure**

The air felt a little warmer inside Shimogakure, the Great City of the North, most likely due to its high stone walls that partially blocked the wind. It had been a week since Naruto and the girls had arrived and things were finally back to normal, well, as normal as they could be.

"Can't sleep ?" A voice surprised Tayuya as she was standing outside her room, on the balcony. The red head turned around to see that the voice belonged to her best friend, Kin. She still remembered how they met again …

* * *

_Flashback : One week ago_

* * *

"What took you guys so long ?" Tayuya said with a smirk as she turned around to see all the Diva behind her. The one who took the killing shot was Kin, it was no wonder since she always got Tayuya's back ever since they met all those years ago.

"We had to take the long way since Guren brought several sensors with her. So … What happened, how come those creeps from Sonido were trying to kill you and who are those two who took your defense against them ?" Kin replied and then fired back her own questions.

Tayuya heavily sighed as she stood up on her own, pushing the body of the dead Sonido man away as she did. She then looked toward Rana and Stella, studying them for a bit before she spoke again.

"Are you two with Naruto ?" She asked them in a calm voice.

"Yes, we are. We were still with him a couple of hours ago but we had to split and bring you with us since a group of Leaf and Oto nins were right behind." Stella replied truthfully, she saw no need to lie to Tayuya or withhold information from her since Naruto already considered her as his family.

Tayuya nodded and thanked Stella for answering her question. She then turned back to the Diva and sat down on the ground, prompting them to do the same. Once everyone was seated, she told them the whole story, well, at least from her point of view.

"It all started on the first day after our arrival in that town of Hot Spring country … [SKIP] ... and that's the last thing I can remember before losing consciousness and waking up here and you guys saving my ass." She explained everything, from meeting Naruto to her Uzumaki origins and then how Guren discovered the whole thing and tried to kill her.

The Diva had stayed silent during the entire story, letting their friend explain herself. Tayuya was quite nervous when she ended the tale, worried about how the girls would react after learning how she had betrayed Orochimaru and them when she didn't report Naruto's existence to the group.

"So, what are _**we**_ doing next, Tayuya-chan ?" Sasame asked with a smirk, mirrored by all the other Diva. Tayuya's eyes widened as she realized what her friend just asked. She remained like that for some seconds while her mind rebooted.

"I-I can't ask you to follow me, this is too dangerous. I can't forsake the last chance I have to reunite with my clan either. I'm screwed no matter how I look at this. If Orochimaru doesn't find me first, I know the Alliance or the Leaf will, I don't know what to do anymore ..." Tayuya said to her friends with teary eyes.

She soon felt a warm sensation taking over her whole body as her friends joined her in a group hug. It calmed her a bit, even though she still didn't have an acceptable solution to the problem. She was scared, injured and she had just become an international fugitive with no place to go back to.

"You move forward and never look back is what you do." A deep voice that three of them instantly recognized announced. Naruto appeared in front of them in a burst of speed, only to be followed by Miya and the rest of his wives a couple of seconds after that.

"You're no fun, Naruto-kun. Even though we left before, you managed to arrive first." Kazehana whined playfully while she landed at his side. The blond chuckled at his wife's antics and turned back his attention toward Tayuya and the Diva.

"I know we never had the chance to discuss this but I would like for you to come with me, Tayuya. Your friends are welcomed to join too, if they wish to come with you. There may be difficult times ahead of us but I also promise to protect you all with my life." Naruto said extending a hand to her.

"Why would you go so far for a stranger like me ? I know we may share the same ancestors but it should not be something worth risking your life for." Tayuya replied. She was still unsure whether she should take his hand or not.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know myself. I never knew my parents so I grew up alone in a village that despised me for something I had no control of. During those times I always wondered what I would do if I ever met someone from my family, a long lost sibling, an aunt or a cousin … Once I left, it became a dream of mine to one day return in the Elemental Nations and gather all the remaining Uzumaki members to bring our clan back to its former glory." He told her, leaving out some details about himself he didn't feel like sharing with her just yet, like the fact he's a jinchuriki.

Tayuya looked at her friends one last time and saw them all smiling back at her. She took a deep breath and then held out her hand to Naruto. The two Uzumaki both smiled at each other, almost forgetting that they still were in the middle a war zone.

"Uzumaki Tayuya, I'll be in your care from now on." The red head said with a genuine smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tayuya, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, welcome on board." The blond replied.

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

It was still early in the morning and the sun was not even up yet but Tayuya couldn't stay in bed any longer. Following Miya's examination of her injuries, Tayuya was to rest for an entire week before they could move out again. In the mean time there was nothing much to do, even more so when you are an international fugitive.

"I tend to lose track of time with all the rest I had, I'd go mad if I didn't get some fresh air once in a while. How about you, Kin, why are you up so early in the morning ?" Tayuya replied, as Kin was joining her on the veranda.

"You let the window open, there's no way I'd be able to remain asleep with the freezing temperature outside." Kin told her, giving Tayuya a spare blanket she took out from their room. However, as she made her way toward her forgetful best friend, a particular scene came upon her eyes.

In a private yard of the hotel, a very shirtless and sweaty Naruto was training by himself, he was practicing some kind of moves holding a golden staff. Fighting imaginary opponents, the blonde displayed graceful yet accurate thrusts, swirling the weapon from the left to the right without any wasted movements.

Kin couldn't help but being mesmerized by the show he was putting on. Though she would have to admit that for her, it was much more about the topless form of the blond Adonis than his prowess at handling his staff weapon. Before she could start to fantasize even more about it, she regained her composure and then turned back toward Tayuya with a playful grin on her face.

"Huh, I see now… It's no wonder you were not cold out there. I wouldn't either if you told me the hotel provided such '_entertainment_'." The brunette told her friend with a devilish smirk on her face while Tayuya seemed lost in her thoughts.

"Yeah ..." She absentmindedly replied, not looking back, before correcting herself.

"W-What ? No ! I was just getting some fresh air." She quickly said, trying to hide the blush on her face with little success. Kin couldn't help but laugh at her, she knew perfectly how to push the red head's buttons

"Ha ha, just kidding but you're so innocent when it comes to those things, Tayuya-chan. All jokes aside, I know he has all those women around him already, but it wouldn't be weird for you to join their inner circle too. You are an Uzumaki member by blood as well after all." Kin told Tayuya, a true smile on her face.

"I-I don't see Naruto-kun that way, besides, there's no way he would find someone like me pretty. Did you see the figures and faces on the women he has around him, there's just no way for me to compete with them." Tayuya replied quickly.

"Hmm, so it's Naruto-kun now ? You, my dear Tayuya-chan, are a silly person. You are as pretty as those women and I'm pretty sure Naruto-san would ..." Kin was cut in the middle of her sentence by a voice from behind them.

"What about me, ladies ?" Naruto made his presence known, standing behind them on the edge of the balcony. The blond was still shirtless with a towel hanging over his shoulder, he had an idiotic smile on his face while scratching the back of his head.

"N-Nothing, Naruto-kun. I was just wondering where we were going next, since I'm healed now." Tayuya almost yelled out, trying to hide the content of her previous conversation about him. Kin was grinning behind her friend, though seeing Naruto in his current undressed state from up close was not something she would get out of her mind for quite some time.

"Oh, let's discuss this with the others over breakfast. I'll go take a quick shower first and then meet you all downstairs." Naruto replied as he continued to climb up, toward his own room on the last floor of the building. Tayuya sighed in relief as she saw him disappearing upstairs.

"You're such an amateur, Tayuya-chan. You should have offered him to shower with you in order to win some time and then I would have joined in as well and then ..." Kin was going on and on with her teasing while going back inside their room.

"Kin-chan !" Tayuya yelled out, blushing madly, as she followed after her best friend.

* * *

**Rice Country, Otogakure**

* * *

In an underground facility located deep inside the borders of Ta no Kuni, the periodical pulse of a heart monitoring device can be heard. Asleep in her bed, Guren was currently being treated for the injuries she sustained in the fight against the **Kuro no Kitsune**. Overseeing the procedure is none other than Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand and second in command inside Otogakure.

"**How is she ?"** Asked a voice through the speaker. Kabuto immediately stopped his actions and lifted his head toward the source of the voice. High above in an observation gallery, the leader of Otogakure himself was looking down. The smirk on his face contrasted with Guren's current state, no one could ever tell if the man was happy or angry.

"She'll live, Orochimaru-sama. The treatment will be over soon and, as you commanded, it's barely enough to keep her alive while we question her about the mission. She will most likely experience tremendous pain as she wakes up, but my drug will keep her awake while she can still feel the full extend of her injuries." Kabuto replied, flashing his boss with an equally creepy smirk.

"**Good, call me as soon as she opens her eyes. We have much to discuss ..."** Orochimaru said as he left the room. Kabuto resumed the treatment in order to stabilize his patient long enough for his master to proceed with the interrogation.

It still amazed him how they found her in the aftermath of what seemed to be a very one sided fight. With the disappearance of Team Diva as well as Guren's platoon, Orochimaru decided to investigate himself their last known location. Seeing as medical attention would most likely be needed, Kabuto was also dispatched while the Sound Four remained behind.

* * *

_Flashback : Six days ago, Frost Country_

* * *

In the deserted lands of the North, laid the dead bodies of more than forty shinobi from the Leaf and Guren's Sonido troops. At first sight, an untrained eye would have suggested a mutual confrontation between the two natural enemies, however, Orochimaru and Kabuto knew better.

Looking at the victims' injuries, the Snake thought in terms of jutsu and, in this particular situation, unknown jutsu. He knew for sure that none of those were inflicted by Konoha nins, being a former high ranking Leaf officer himself. Kabuto for his part analyzed the facts with a medic viewpoint. A conclusion similar to his master's came to him, as strange as it seems, those Leaf and Sound shinobi fought side by side against a common foe far superior to them.

Kabuto was especially interested in the deaths from Kazehana's technique, those internal injuries that spread from the external scratches were quite intriguing to him. Orochimaru though, was far more interested in Naruto's Suiton jutsu. Upon inspection, he immediately recognized the traces from the **Shishienjin** and then theorized that whatever destroyed it was based on a very high level Suiton jutsu.

From the looks of the dried up area all around the supposed location of the defensive chakra square, he could almost see the technique being performed right in front of him. Having extensively studied the former Hokage, this scene reminded him of the Nidaime and his uncanny ability to draw out the water for his techniques from the nature around him.

The two mad scientists were still engrossed in their analysis when a sound alerted the both of them. Under a pile of dead bodies, Guren was found alive. She was heavily injured and had most likely used those bodies as a protection against the freezing cold.

"Make sure there's no one else alive." Kabuto ordered the men while Orochimaru grabbed a strange looking item from the ground. It was a face mask, something that wouldn't have caught the snake's attention considering the several dead Root operatives all around. However, this mask was not quite the same as the others, he'd seen it somewhere before but couldn't remember where.

Once they made sure there was no other survivor among the bodies, the group turned back toward Otogakure. Orochimaru kept the mask for safekeeping, he would have to wait for Guren to regain consciousness before interrogating her about all this.

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

That was six days ago, Guren's condition stabilized since then but it was a close call. Had they find her half a day later than that, she wouldn't be among the living today. The device used to monitor her vitals suddenly showed an increase in her heartbeat, signaling to Kabuto that his patient was about to wake up.

"Kabuto … Where am I ? What the fuck happened ?" Guren said as soon as she opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar place.

"Easy now … We're in Oto, you're safe." Kabuto replied. _"Only for now though and as long as the answers she provides to Orochimaru-sama are to his liking ..."_ He kept his thoughts hidden from her while pressing a secret button under his desk, signaling to Orochimaru that Guren was awake.

"Why the hell did you restrain me then ?" Guren yelled as she noticed the restrains on her wrists and ankles that tied her to the bed.

"Well you're about to find out ..." Kabuto cryptically said as he left the room completely ignoring the shouts of protestation that followed his reply to her question.

* * *

**Fire Country, Konohagakure**

* * *

A similar yet completely different scene was taking place at the Hidden Leaf, as Uchiha Sasuke was being treated for the same injuries than Guren's. Danzo's apprentice was placed in a VIP room with constant care from Konoha's best doctors and nurses.

The Uchiha heir returned a week ago, on his own and heavily injured from the front lines. Upon arriving at the village's gates, he collapsed and had yet to wake up despite receiving the best care from the hospital.

Danzo had been less than pleased when his student returned with no escort from the mission. There was no need for a Nara to guess that the Uchiha had failed to accomplish his mission. If any more proof was needed until the young man awoke, the doubts disappeared during the following council meeting.

* * *

_Flashback : Four days ago, Konohagakure - Council Room_

* * *

An unscheduled meeting was called upon Sasuke's return from the North. Rumors had been spread throughout the village about their golden boy's failure. The Godaime Hokage was seething, beyond his apprentice's shortcomings, it was his leadership that was questioned when during the hearing, an ANBU suddenly appeared before the audience.

"What is the meaning of this ? I gave specific orders for this session to not be disturbed, ANBU !" Yelled the War Hawk. Every council representatives tensed a bit when their leader raised his voice, it was no common occurrence for the usually calm and collected Shimura Danzo to lose his cool over such things.

"I-I know, Hokage-sama. However you also gave orders that everything related to the Wave mission was to be brought to you as soon as possible." The ANBU quickly replied, as he became the object of everyone's attention inside the room.

"Fine, where is the team leader then ? Send him in." Danzo replied, as he regained his composure. After an awkward silence, the ANBU operative slowly made his way to the center of the room from his previous position near the doors.

"Actually ... There's still no sign of anyone from the battalion that left for Nami no Kuni. We did receive this scroll instead, just a moment ago. It took some time for us to get it here because of the strange authentication number on it. The cypher it uses is an old one, so the decryption took longer than usually but we managed. It says : _**To Shimura Danzo, Hokage of Konohagakure.**_ There's also a blood seal at the bottom, so it is safe to assume only you can open it. However we don't know who would be skilled enough to both encode this message and also have a way to create seals that reacts to you, Hokage-sama." The ANBU said before leaving the room.

Danzo was a cautious man, therefore he motioned for Hiashi Hyuga to take a look first, in order to detect anything abnormal from that scroll. With the clearance from the **Byakugan**, Danzo finally decided to open seal. Drawing some blood from his thumb, he was prepared to use Shunshin at any moment should a trap appear.

Upon unlocking the contents of the scroll, a small poof of smoke appeared and two items fell down from it. The first was the ANBU mask of the commander from the troops that departed for Nami no Kuni, though Danzo was the only one in that room to know that. The second item was another scroll with a written message in it.

_**The men you sent to Nami no Kuni have all met their end on this day, the mask you hold in your hands should be a sufficient proof. We acted on self defense against the intrusion of your armies within our lands and shall do so in the future should you chose to ignore the following warning.**_

_**The bridge your men took in order to reach our lands has now been destroyed, making it so that our village can only be reached by boat from now on. We may not be as effective as you are on the ground but know that the sea is our domain.**_

_**We wish not to start a war with the Leaf and its allies, we are but a country of businessmen. That being said, over the years we made some very powerful partners that have agreed to organize our defenses. The result from the battle of your men against them should convince you of their skill.**_

_**Therefore and until further notice, Nami no Kuni is now closed to every citizens of the Leaf and its allies. Intruders found within our borders shall be killed on sight and their bodies disposed of. Consider this letter as the one and only warning you will receive, for the next offense against our land shall be perceived as an act of War.**_

_**We are now prepared against you, challenge us at your own peril ...**_

_**Signed by Tazuna, acting Daimyo of Nami no Kuni.**_

Once he was done with it Danzo passed the letter to Shikaku Nara, his Jonin commander, and left the council room abruptly. The man frowned as he also read the letter out loud, already seeing his Hokage going on the war path against Wave.

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

Danzo was not seen in public after that day, the man completely disappeared after the meeting. He was known for being a highly prudent man, even to the point of paranoia. The Council didn't know how or when but one thing was sure, Danzo was going to mercilessly crush Wave Country as soon as he could.

The counterattack would most likely start as soon as his apprentice, Uchiha Sasuke was healed and ready to go. However, said disciple had yet to awake from his forced rest. Konohagakure would be the most advanced place in the world in a medical point of view, had Senju Tsunade stayed within its walls. The Slug Princess, as she was commonly called, had been MIA for the last twenty years.

Danzo tried to correct that when he rose to power but failed, as she and her teammate Jiraya stayed off the grid ever since their departure. They were both Kage level warriors and would not be found if they didn't want to.

Consequently, the Leaf was bidding its time. There was no sign of activities from the Oto alliance, strangely enough. Ever since Sasuke's mission, things seemed to have calm down near the borders.

* * *

**Lightning Country, Kumogakure Kage Tower**

* * *

The Yondaime Raikage, A, was currently inside his office. He was presently going through a huge pile of paperwork when someone knocked. His assistant, Mabui, entered a second later with a scroll in her hands for him.

His eyes widened as he read the contents of the scroll Mabui gave him. He channeled chakra into a seal located under his desk, signaling for a specific ANBU team to meet up with him. Ignoring the confused look of his secretary he then went to his closet to retrieve his battle gears and suited up.

A mere fifteen seconds later, a group of five ANBU appeared in a **Shunshin** in front of them. Mabui had no difficulty identifying them for she was also the one proofreading every paperwork her leader ever signed.

In front of them stood the VOLT unit, an elite team among their ANBU operatives. They were all wearing masks but Mabui knew who were the ones behind each of those. First there was the squad leader, Darui, the village's ninjutsu specialist with his **Ranton** bloodline. Then we had Shi, second in command, who was their genjutsu expert. Finally the team was completed by Samui, Karui and Omoi, former students of Killer Bee and specialized in kenjutsu. They had flawless teamwork and once combined, anything less than their former teacher would be hard pressed to fight them off.

The Raikage had yet to say a word but the team was already in its usual 'carefree' mode. The leader was among the world's laziest person and the younger ones had kept their old dynamics with Karui being pissed off by Omoi while Samui was playing the role of the referee. Shi was the only one who seemed to be concerned about their leader's unusual behavior.

"Cut the crap, this is serious shit !" A yelled as he put the final touch to his equipment. This had the immediate effect he expected from that team as they instantly switched into their 'pro' mode, lining up before him while Darui was the one to speak.

"VOLT, reporting in, Sir." He said as they all stood in attention.

"I'm going to meet a S-Ranked type of 'friend' outside the walls of the city, you will escort me there. This is an off the record mission Shi, so I want you to hide us all the way from here and until we get to the spot where I'm supposed to be. Mabui, you will hold off everyone who wants to come in here until I get back." He replied.

No one questioned his motives and just did as they were told. Shi activated a transparency illusion over them and the group left right after that in the direction of the gates while Mabui returned to her desk.

* * *

**Kumogakure, Outside the walls**

* * *

A and his team arrived at the spot fifteen minutes later, it was a clearing one mile to the south of the village. This was not a place where people would venture to, as the way to get there from the city is quite difficult to take unless you're a ninja. Furthermore from the position of the sun above them, it was close to noon, so everyone was most likely getting ready for lunch at this time of the day.

Upon arriving at the designated spot the Raikage saw a tent, if one could call that a tent. It was more of a shelter made from four wood pillars linked at the top by a small piece of cloth that protected the people under it from the sun. A white flag planted in the ground before the tent also caught his eye.

Under the shelter was a small table with two chairs, one empty while the other one was occupied by the one who sent him the scroll. It took no time for a man in his position to figure out who this guy was, the famous **Kuro no Kitsune** in person was waiting for him.

A was a fearless man and to be perfectly honest, he could also enjoyed an occasional challenge. Ten feet behind his 'host', two women were standing in attention, his personal escort from what he could remember of the reports about them. The Raikage decided to join Naruto, giving orders to his own team to stand down behind him at the same distance than Naruto's.

"Here I am, as demanded. Now talk, what are you doing here ?" The Kage asked as he sat down at the table in front of Naruto. The blond was wearing the same clothes he had been seen with when the picture for his Bingo book profile was taken, right down to the mask.

"Straight to the point, I like that. Very well then let's talk about my presence in your lovely country. I came here to talk about the disappearance of the jinchuriki." Naruto replied in quite a neutral tone, ready to analyze A's reaction. He was not disappointed, as the Lightning Shadow instantly gripped a corner of the table with his right hand, almost shattering it as he did.

"I don't know what you're talking about, my daughter and her uncle are perfectly safe, somewhere within this village." The man replied, doing his best to cover up for his first outburst. He made no attempt to hide the fact that Yugito was his adopted daughter or that Bee was his brother, this was common knowledge among the high ranking individuals nowadays after all.

"You know what, I'll just pretend that I'm not sure about what I'm gonna tell you so you just have to listen and then we'll see how close I am from the truth." Naruto said, taking a deep breath and then changing his rigid stance into a more relaxed one.

"I was always surprised to see a stubborn and prideful man like you ally himself with the likes of Orochimaru and Onoki. Despite what the World or Konoha itself thought, Kumo had become the strongest among the Five as of late so I didn't really understand what you guys had to win in this. It came down to the only thing you A would consider more important than risking a Fourth ninja war, your family. How am I so far, hot ?" Naruto asked as he saw his guest's eyes widening. Not waiting for an answer he went on with his story ...

"I first thought that you lost Yugito, being the weaker among the two. However coming here to meet you, I now know that you lost both of them. Probably the second tried to go rescue the first one and you have yet to hear from any of them. Oto demanded your cooperation against their freedom but from what I see your side has yet to really enter this war, you still hope to get those two back from them before it comes to that." Naruto took a short break, looking toward the Raikage.

"I'm still listening ..." A reluctantly said as he saw Naruto looking at him.

"You won't like the next part though, but I guess you need or deserve to know about this. Bee and Yugito are probably dead, I know from a very reliable source that every jinchuriki in the Elemental Nations have been captured and/or killed by a mysterious organization that has links with Oto." He dropped the bomb, waiting for the second outburst from A.

"Lies ! This cannot be, they know I won't do shit for them if they hurt one of those two. I even got to send chakra sensors that confirmed the presence of the Nibi and Hachibi chakra from inside the land of Rice. Who's your source, how can you tell it's reliable ?" The Raikage yelled as he slammed his right fist through the table this time. Naruto sighed as he stood up, reaching for the knot that tied the mask to his face.

"I know my source is reliable since well … The source is me." He said pulling down his mask and showing his face to A and his team.

"Minato Namikaze ..." The Raikage whispered as he saw the face of the Kuro no Kitsune.

"Not quite … I hope one of those sensors you spoke of is among the team you brought with you." Naruto replied as he channeled some chakra and his whiskers marks became visible. A moment of confusion followed but, soon enough, A's eyes widened for the third time today as the man finally connected the dots.

"You ..."

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**A/N : **I know, I know … My last sentence in the previous chapter was 'What took you guys so long ?' I believe the question you have is what took me so long since that last chapter. Got no excuse this time, I just didn't feel like writing for quite some time.

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Now before some of you ask, yes I made up the daughter relationship between Yugito and A, I like it that way and it make it more believable for the Raikage to act like this. Not much is known about her anyway.

I also know I wrote that every jinchuriki had fallen to the 'mysterious organization', that obviously includes Gaara even though he was present in one of the previous chapters. I will explain myself about this in a later release as well.

I will also clear this up right away, even though many more women will lust after our hero, he won't fall for any of them beside those I already announced. So don't get your hopes up for Kin or any of the Diva to join in on the fun.

The blond and his girls finally made it to Lightning Country, what is the next step in his plan ? What is the purpose of his visit to A ? What are Danzo's or Orochimaru's next moves going to be ? You will have to read the next issues to find out :)

Please read and review !


	16. Tides of War

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

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It's good to know most of my regular readers didn't drop the story despite a 'short' hiatus of almost two months. I'd like to thank you all for the continuous support on this and the other story which still receives reviews even though it's been over for several months now. On the same note, I am proud to announce that Kaze no Kami has reached over the **1 million** hits since its creation, some accomplishment for a complete beginner like me on my first project ever :)

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

**Chapter 16 : Tides of War**

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**Nami no Kuni, Village Outskirts**

* * *

A small group of four travelers were walking through the main road around the village of Nami no Kuni toward their next destination, Mizu no Kuni. The party was composed by three women and a man, with the addition of a small pet that was running around.

The man walked ahead of their group, he was tall with waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for '**Oil**'. He wore green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he had a mesh armor that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese geta, a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back.

"Jiraiya, are we there yet ?" Yelled one of the three women. Hearing his name, the man turned his head back while taking out a small map. It showed their current location to the south of the village they were trying to go around and then the small port that would get them toward Water Country. Behind him stood three really beautiful women, peacefully talking among themselves.

The first and youngest one stood in the center. She had long black hair with blue eyes. She wore a green blouse over a pink jacket with brown gloves. The one standing to her left was a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender built with black eyes and hair. She wore a long blueish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heels. The final member of their group was a fairly tall, light-skinned woman with brown eyes and straight, blonde hair. She wore a grass-green haori with the kanji for '**Gamble**' written in black on the back, inside a red circle.

"We'll be there in about one hour, Tsunade-hime. Going around that village is not really a shortcut but since we're trying to avoid unnecessary attention there's no alternative. What's the rush though, it's not like you have somewhere else to be, is there ?" Jiraiya replied as he then put the map away. Tsunade was about to reply something to him when the youngest member of their group spoke.

"Look over here, they're having some kind of festival. Let's go please Ba-chan, Ero-oyaji." Koyuki yelled as she saw the lights inside the village, pulling Shizune's hand with her as she started to walk in that direction.

Sighing as she saw her two adoptive daughters walking toward the place they tried to avoid, well at least Shizune seemed to resist a bit, Tsunade decided to go along. Jiraiya knew when a fight is lost so he reluctantly followed after the three women knowing they had left the vicinity of Fire Country so the risk of exposure would be limited.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, Tazuna's Hometown**

* * *

It was already night time in Nami no Kuni as people were leisurely strolling around the shops of the village. There was however a more crowded place than the rest right in the middle of the town, this was a place where villagers and tourists alike were slowly but surely gathering around.

This in turn caught Koyuki's attention as their group visited the city, hidden among the crowd. They chose to stay for a short time in one of the many hotels of the village, a day or two at most. Jiraiya insisted they move out as soon as possible but the moment Tsunade saw the shops that were selling rare brands of Sake, it was a lost cause. Shizune was more interested in the high quality of medical tools some shops were exposing while Koyuki went for the exotic clothing stores.

This went on for a while until they came across the place where all the people were going to. It was a small arena with some kind of stage, most likely the setting for a performance to be played. From the look of the gathered audience the show was about to start so the group decided to take a seat and see for themselves what this was all about.

Koyuki was very excited, she always wanted to be an actress. She would have most likely chosen that path if she didn't meet Jiraiya during her childhood. The pervert had stumbled upon a lonely and abandoned Koyuki during one of his travels around the Elemental Nations fifteen years ago. Whatever happened at the time worked for the both of them since they never left each other's side ever since. Jiraiya took her under his wing as an apprentice, hoping for the best. Neither of them would openly admit it but they considered each other as family, same with Tsunade and Shizune when they met a little bit after that, but that's another story ...

Most of the lights around the arena suddenly died down as the first actor went on stage. The man wore some kind of face mask that looked like a monkey's face but Tsunade and Jiraiya both felt a familiar feeling when their eyes fell on that character. However the feeling quickly disappeared as the rest of the cast appeared.

That was a live adaptation from the Saiyuki story with the protagonist being that man wearing the Monkey's face. While Koyuki and Shizune marveled at the show and its captivating plot, Tsunade and Jiraiya were getting more and more confused with that main actor's acrobatic skills. Neither of them could remember where they got that strange feeling from until the man took out his weapon, some kind of Bo Staff.

The drums that had been complementing the lightning effects suddenly increased their rhythms as 'Monkey' defeated the villains with his staff, using a style neither of the Sannin thought they would ever see again. Every bit of doubt and confusion they may have had was then amplified, as the man performed the Monkey King's Fist before them. There was no mistake, the person behind that mask was somehow linked to their former teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Jiraiya could not imagine why a style that only the **Kami no Shinobi** knew could end up being displayed in front of them, in this land far away outside Hi no Kuni. He knew the man could not bear the thought of having failed Naruto when he left, all those years ago. The Gama sennin was also conflicted about that, having himself forsaken the responsibility of looking after his godson. This was one among the many reasons why he had decided against becoming the Fifth Hokage when the opportunity presented itself.

Completely oblivious to Jiraiya's or Tsunade's troubles, Shizune and Koyuki were captivated with the show. Due to their masters' popularity, they experienced loads of pressure in order to keep up with the lives the two sennin lived, be it Tsunade's gambling or Jiraiya's perverted habits. Every moments of peace in their lives never lasted long enough. Their group was supposedly leaving the country in order to avoid being caught up in the upcoming war that was bound to happen. Mizu no Kuni was the last place that still had a neutral status in this whole mess.

Jiraiya's and Tsunade's veteran skills suddenly perked up as they felt movements and chakra being powered up all around them. Neither Koyuki nor Shizune picked that up though, it was not a skill that could be taught, only experience granted one this ability, a sixth sense of sorts. Gazing at the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the arena, Jiraiya spotted the shadows of shinobi preparing themselves for an assault. He thought they were targeting him and the girls until all the shadows aligned their aim toward a single spot, 'Monkey'.

"**Ninpo : Hari Jizo !"** Jiraiya yelled, as he launched himself in front of 'Monkey' in an attempt to deflect all the kunai and shuriken that were flying his way. Everything went in a flash for everyone except Jiraiya, Tsunade and the 'target'. The result was a very surprised 'Monkey' and Jiraiya's body covered in kunai and shuriken but protected behind a thick layer of chakra enhanced hair. Still mid air, Jiraiya flashed through hand signs to launch another jutsu.

"**Ninpo : Hari Jigoku !"** He called out as his extended hair turned into countless needles and then launched themselves toward those shinobi who had attacked them in the first place. With flawless accuracy, every senbon hit its target when the Toad Sage finally landed on the ground near his old teacher's unknown apprentice.

It was only then that another man jumped down in front of them, revealing himself to be Sarutobi Hiruzen, Jiraiya's and Tsunade's former teacher and Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. Monkey took his mask off, almost causing Jiraiya to have a heart attack as he saw the reincarnation of his old student, Namikaze Minato. Seeing the reaction from the man who saved him, the blond spoke first.

"I'm not who you think I am. We will discuss this when the time is right, you're in charge, sensei." Naruto said as he and his bodyguards, who appeared out of nowhere, disappeared into the crowd as fast as they appeared. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the man's back but chose to comply.

Had it been any other shinobi, one would have been stunned and unable to move for some time but not Sarutobi Hiruzen. The man, once hailed as the Kami no Shinobi, immediately went through his own hand signs, ending the sequence by biting on his right thumb and slamming the same hand on the ground.

"**Ninpo : Kuchiyose no Jutsu !"** He announced, as a cloud of smoke erupted around his position. As the smoke dissipated, a group of at least ten man-sized monkeys appeared, all wearing shinobi clothes and weapons. They instantly established a perimeter around their summoner, waiting for him to give them their orders.

"Raise the alarm then spread out around the village and its surrounding, find out who attacked and if it's over or just the beginning." Hiruzen said in a calm voice that Tsunade and Jiraiya knew too well. The squad of monkey instantly disappeared with at least chunin speed in all directions around their summoner to execute his orders.

"What makes you think I ain't part of that assault group, old man ?" Jiraiya asked as he stood up to stand next to his mentor. They were soon joined by Tsunade, Shizune and Koyuki as the people in the stands started to evacuate the arena and go to their designated safety spot, taking with them any tourist that they could.

"Whatever may have happened with Orochimaru, we know that at least physically neither you nor Blondie over there would ever stab me in the back. I am grateful for the save but what are you two doing here, I can somehow remember Shizune-chan but who is that other girl with you ?" Hiruzen replied, turning around to face the new arrivals.

"Her name is Koyuki, that should ring a bell unless you're already senile since you're the one who authorized a mission to help her escape from her uncle in Yuki no Kuni." Tsunade told him as she arrived in front of them.

"Still as respectful as ever, Tsunade-chan. Anyway, until told otherwise, the villagers are evacuating to their respective spots, they are used to this. Since many people are after Wave Country, we put this emergency plan into motion in order to avoid unnecessary deaths and chaos. We should ..." He did not have the time to finish his sentence when a loud sound was heard.

** Gong … Gong … **

"What was that, Sarutobi-sensei ?" Jiraiya asked, as Hiruzen was still lost in his thoughts. Another gong was heard throughout the city as a small poof of smoke appeared in front of the old man. The Sandaime finally regained his composure as his summoned started his report.

"**It's the Leaf, Sarutobi-sama. They've taken position all around the village, estimated number is around one thousand troops and Hatake Kakashi is leading them. The ones Jiraiya-dono hit were scouts, the main battle has yet to begin."** The leader of the summons told them.

Jumping on the nearest roof to assess the situation, the group could not believe what they saw …

* * *

**Hi no Kuni, Other side of the sea**

* * *

Sounds of people walking, jumping and running around could be heard within the thick forest that stood near the eastern shores of Hi no Kuni. No words were exchanged as the men and women moved within the darkness until this particular moment ...

** Gong … Gong … Gong …**

Every movements stopped when their leader lifted his right hand in a fist, allowing them to better hear the sounds coming from the other shore. It was close to midnight, no one with normal eyes could see past the usual fog that lingered above the sea that separated Fire and Wave Countries.

"Those are the city bells, they either spotted us or the scouts. Either way, it is of no consequence, since we are ready. Tenzo, give out the signal for the lights." Kakashi said, as he spoke with his closest lieutenant.

"You heard him, light up the torches !" Tenzo yelled as the men and women around started the fire techniques to light up the area around them. When they did, the whole coast was illuminated for several miles with Kakashi standing near the center of them all.

Men, women attending to large siege weapons ranging from kunai launchers to battering rams were there. Teams were being prepared by their leaders for the upcoming siege while specialized troops were being dispatched through the ranks. Among them were Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Nara and Yamanaka evenly placed among the regulars.

** Gong … Gong … Gong …**

"They're welcoming their new masters. I'm disappointed, I thought they would present a challenge" Sasuke Uchiha said, as he appeared behind Kakashi. The young heir didn't seem to have any traces left of his injuries, having being nursed back to health by Konoha's bests.

"I've never known bells to mean surrender, Sasuke. They want to play music, well then let us play. Tenzo, Drums." Kakashi replied, ignoring the smirk on Sasuke's face as he turned to his lieutenant.

"Drums !" The order was heard and repeated among the forest until it reached their entire army. As soon as it did, individuals strategically placed throughout their lines started to hit on some kind of percussion instruments to produce a synchronized beat that seemed to resonate all around the coast.

The signal seemed to only further boost their troops' moral and bloodlust as the soldiers started to load the siege weapons with their ammunition and set the aim toward the village in front of them. Bloodline users activated their specific powers as beasts synchronized with their masters, doujutsu were called upon and so on.

"Remember, Sasuke. I was placed in charge of our troops, do not act against my orders or you will be punished for it, Hokage's apprentice or not." Kakashi spoke in a dark tone that left no doubt as to what the 'punishment' would be while lifting his headband and activating his own **Sharingan**. He was of course ignored by the Uchiha heir as the young man also enabled his own **Sharingan** eyes.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, with Hiruzen**

* * *

As soon as the enemy's positions were revealed, Hiruzen's eyes widened at the sight. He had seen a fair share of battlefields in his life but never could he get used to it, even more so when the enemies are from his own birth village.

He took a deep breath, calming his nerves and turning back. His students and their own apprentices were as troubled as he was, he knew he had to diffuse this situation first before anything else could be done.

"Well Jiraiya, Tsunade, what are your plans ? You are trapped on this island, I doubt either of you want to go back to Danzo and serve him in the name of Konohagakure. That's if they even let you return and not consider you both as traitors for your presence in these lands." Sarutobi asked both his students.

Jiraiya looked back toward his companions to see fear and doubt in their eyes. It was no wonder, neither Shizune nor Koyuki had ever been to war, even if they were taught by the best they were still too young and inexperienced for this. Tsunade was another case, the legendary medic never recovered from her fear of blood and would be useless on the field.

"Alright, I'm with you sensei. However Tsunade and the girls won't, if you do have a safe place for them to be I want them there, that's my only condition." Jiraiya said, ignoring the confused look on his adoptive daughter's face.

"What ? I can fight Ero-oyaji ! I'm your best student, remember ?" Koyuki pleaded but it all fell into deaf ears as Jiraiya had already made up his mind. She knew the look on his face, it was the one he would have in those rare moments where he needed to be serious.

"Don't fight me on this, Yuki-chan. I know you can fight but I won't be able to give it my all if I have to worry about you. I lost every student I ever took under my wing, you won't be the next. Look after Tsunade and Shizune for me will you ?" He replied. She could only nod at his request when she saw the determination in his eyes.

Tsunade didn't put up much resistance when she heard the plan, knowing her own weaknesses and where she would be more useful to them, with the civilians and injured. Exchanging a nod with Jiraiya, she took the two younger girls with her as they followed one of Hiruzen's summon toward the safe zone.

"You still love her after all these years, don't you ?" Sarutobi asked his student with a small smile on his face. Of course he knew of Jiraiya's feelings for Tsunade when they were young, it was not his place to speak out so he left it alone.

"And I always will but she doesn't need to know this. Now, stop talking non-sense old man. What's the plan. Even though I'm no longer aligned with Konoha, I'd rather not do this all day." Jiraiya said as he turned back toward the battlefield.

"I have less than one hundred men under my command, all from high chunin to jonin. We're greatly outnumbered and this place isn't build to withstand such a battle. It's not like I wasn't expecting the War Hawk to take this lying down but they're just a bit early." Hiruzen replied as he ordered his ape summons to go back to their designated spots.

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**Hi no Kuni, With Kakashi**

* * *

Seeing the gates of the town closing and enemies running around, Kakashi followed the orders and gave out the signal to start the battle. He was ordered by Konoha's High Council to surround Wave with his troops and then start the bombardment with the artillery he brought. He didn't enjoy going after a civilian town but orders were absolute, so he obeyed ...

As fast as the orders to warm up the weapons were relayed, the one to start the attack also reached the troops. Kunai with explosive seals were lit up and propelled toward the town on the other end of the sea, precisely timed in order to detonate at the moment they reach the enemy's walls. Heavier materials such as boulders were sent using stronger artillery devices, placed a bit further away from the front lines.

"Why aren't they fighting back, Kakashi-sempai ?" Tenzo asked as countless projectiles were sent against Wave Village, illuminating the dark night with the fire they were leaving in their trail. The defenders had yet to make a move in defending their walls.

"I'm not sure, we must be out of range for their defensive weapons to be effective. Anyway orders stand, we are to continue until a breach is done. Until then, stand down and wait for further orders." The son of the White Fang replied, eying the battlefield with his **Sharingan**. Tenzo nodded, turning his head toward the troops that were waiting for the next phase to start.

The heavy infantry was already standing by, ready to launch themselves at the enemy's city once a breach is opened in their walls. They would travel underwater as fast as possible, covered by the heavy fog coupled to the night's darkness with the mission to reach the other side and reestablish a bridge for the main troops to advance toward the city.

Obviously, there was but one man to volunteer for the task to lead that division, your one and only Uchiha Sasuke. Knowing he would get the most kills and all the glory of being the one to spill the first blood, Danzo's apprentice took great pride in accepting the mission to create the beachhead. Speaking of the devil, the young man was getting very irritated at waiting for Kakashi to give him the green light to start the assault.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, With Hiruzen**

* * *

Hiruzen and Jiraiya observed the situation from a tall building, overlooking the entire town and its walls being bombarded by the Leaf's forces. Unlike Kakashi, they had to use goggles to see during the night and well, let's face it, they were far from their prime.

"It's almost pretty, isn't it ?" Jiraiya asked as the sky above them was covered by the flaming trails of the attacker's weapons. The walls and the main gate were holding for now, having recently been reinforced by Tazuna's people but the situation wouldn't remain that way for long.

"Almost … Not quite." The Sarutobi replied, frowning as he analyzed the situation in his mind. It didn't go unnoticed by his former student though. Having grown up watching the man in front of him allowed Jiraiya to pick such things up.

"What's wrong, sensei ?" The Gama sennin wondered, he knew his mentor was someone who had always planned ahead and the Kami no Shinobi moniker was not undeserved when it came to him. For Sarutobi to show such an expression, the situation at hand must have been harder than the old leader anticipated.

"Kakashi's leadership has always been textbook, to never deviate from the plan. From the look of it, it seems said plan is Danzo's though. The way they are trying to overpower us, I do wonder where my old friend is and why he left the 'honor' of leading this battle to Kakashi." The older man said as he stroke his beard.

Jiraiya nodded, he may not have been as experienced as his teacher but he also had his fair share of battles in his life. He knew they could only sit tight until the enemy further advances, exposing their position to a counterattack. He was about to speak when a smile appeared on his face as he saw the opportunity they had been waiting for.

"Well, either Kakashi is not as obedient as he used to be or someone decided to start the party with no orders from his superiors. Look who just got out of the water, near that destroyed bridge." Said Jiraiya as he gave the goggles to Hiruzen who smirked back, dismissing one summon that had been waiting for a signal to proceed with its task.

* * *

**Hi no Kuni, With Kakashi**

* * *

"Damn him ! Damn that brat !" Kakashi seethed as he saw Sasuke emerging on the other side of the sea. The city walls had yet to fall and the Uchiha Scion had already crossed over, albeit going under water, ruining their plan to discretely create that beachhead.

"Sempai … We can't let him go unsupervised, Hokage-sama will be furious against us both." Tenzo replied, also using goggles in order to follow their vanguard's progress. They had received specific orders from Danzo not to let Sasuke out of their sight and apparently they were already failing.

"There's no other way then, divert our artillery from the main gates and have them focus toward the sides. That will at least prevent them from attacking him while his forces build up that bridge for us. I just hope that he still remembers what his squad's mission was." Kakashi finally decided, heavily sighing as he did.

As soon as the artillery units were updated to fit the new battle plan, the torrent of fire that was sent on the main gates and its nearby walls was redirected to the sides, providing fire cover for Sasuke and the men under his command. Seeing his instructions executed, Kakashi then called for the rest of the soldiers at his disposal to prepare themselves for the main assault.

"We will move out as soon as the temporary bridge is up and running ..." Announced the scarecrow shinobi to his second in command who immediately compelled, going on his way to repeat the new instructions to the other divisions.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, With Sasuke**

* * *

Sasuke quickly used a light **Katon** jutsu in order to dry his clothes while his followers were getting out of the water behind him. Each of them was carrying large wires, seemingly made of a resilient material that allowed them to not be affected by the sea water. They went onto the destroyed bridge and started to attach those cables to the former stone structure.

Going underwater had the advantage of being relatively stealthy, however their speed was greatly reduced compared to what it would be on the ground. Such a drawback would be erased using the wires they were currently deploying on the destroyed bridge. They would then cross the sea using those as if they were running on the ground, nothing too hard for chunin and higher leveled nins.

Seeing the firsts links 'set in stone', Sasuke turned back toward the city in front of him and started to channel chakra throughout his body. Soon enough, lightning sparkles appeared around his body as he launched himself toward the main gates with the firm intention to get through them. His doujutsu activated, he however never saw the strange looking barrels painted in white that laid on the ground on his path …

As soon as the first pathways were installed, Leaf nins started to cross over from Hi no Kuni, some of them carrying even more wires as they arrived. Kakashi had to stay back to maneuver the army on the other side while Tenzo was among the first ones to come over, taking charge of the men they had on this side. None of those who came from the continent noticed what Sasuke missed, too keen on following after the Uchiha heir.

Once a good half of them had gotten through, that was the moment when all hell broke loose. From out of nowhere, a series of explosion covered the field where the advancing army stood. Sasuke had just reached the gates when he heard the commotion from behind him, turning back he was not sure either as to what the hell had just happened to their men.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, With Naruto**

* * *

Hiruzen's ship and Naruto's flagship were slowly sailing along the Eastern coasts of the island, with their crews operating the long-ranged cannons. The Musashi was armed with two rows of ten pieces while the Yamato, Naruto's flagship, housed four rows of those.

The crews were expert at the handling of those weapons in order to hit a target from quite far away. They were also extremely efficient in the reloading of new ammunition which each boat had plenty. Using the signals they were getting back from Sarutobi, who served as their advanced scout, they adapted the range and timing of the firing.

Kazehana was standing at the top of the Yamato, on its mast, as she looked toward Hiruzen's place. The Captain of the Musashi was relaying the enemy's position to them, using the painted barrels on the ground that had been left behind to act like beacons. Miya acted as the temporary captain on the Musashi while Naruto assumed command over his own ship.

"Four hundred, adjust, hold … Fire !" Both commanders yelled as the ships simultaneously fired.

The cannons were mainly used to fire against other enemy ships on the sea, to point them toward a ground target was somewhat an unusual experience for them. More over, firing against targets that were out of their line of sight, hidden by the city walls, was also new to them.

"Three hundred, elevation, adjust to slight side wind, hold … Fire !" Once again the ships fired.

Tayuya and the Diva watched in fascination as Naruto and the girls were commanding the ship. The cannons caught their attention, of course, wondering how the machines operated. Miria and Galatea were controlling each ships' direction according to Kazehana's instructions.

"_Damn, I thought they would have waited a bit longer before attacking, with that letter sent to their Council. We won't be able to repel such a siege with only two ships, there are too many civilians to protect and the city won't resist much longer ..." _Naruto mused as he gazed toward the island.

"Turn the ships around, we're going for another round. It seems the enemy really needs to learn a lesson or two about exterior ballistics." The blond said as he continued to analyze the situation in order to find a way out of this for his men and the citizens of Nami.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, With Kakashi**

* * *

Kakashi and the last ground troops were in the process of crossing over toward Nami no Kuni, with a small contingent staying behind in order to avoid any sneaky attacks on their back and protect the artillery units.

The son of the White Fang was midway across the water front when the defenders finally started to fire back at them. His single **Sharingan** eye widened as multiple cannonballs were heading his way, his doujutsu already knowing those were going to hit, hard.

Going through fast hand signs, the commander of the Leaf called upon the first attack that came to his mind in order to minimize the number of casualties.

"**Suiton : Suiryudan no Jutsu !"** Kakashi yelled, pushing every bit of chakra he could behind the jutsu. Instantly, from below him, an enormous water Dragon rose from the ocean and went in front of the incoming threats.

The white haired jonin sighed in relief as the unidentified black balls were slightly set off course by his **Suiton** jutsu, saving the lives of his men as they finally reached the other side of the bridge. The attacks were almost immediately corrected to land on them. Fortunately, Tenzo had the time to erect large stone walls to cover them as he did with the rest of their men.

"Report !" Kakashi called as soon as he joined up with Tenzo.

"You were right, Sempai. They were waiting for the right time to hit us, so far we lost nearly five hundreds while their walls and the gates have yet to fall. I do not know which devices or jutsu they use to fire those black stones but their aim is impeccable and the strength behind those is incredible. Even a double layered stone wall has difficulty to withstand such power." Tenzo replied, visibly on his last chakra reserves.

"Good work, now you need to rest, you're not the only **Doton** user we have. Keep your chakra, you will need it. Just tell the troops to spread out as much as they can around the walls and to advance, this will get them out of the firing range as I don't see them firing against their own walls." Kakashi said as he resumed his duties as the commander.

"By the way, I could not reach Sasuke before he left. He should be arriving near their gates as we speak, him and the hundred men he took when they crossed over." Tenzo added as he went back. Kakashi nodded, narrowing his eyes toward the direction of the gates.

"_We lost half our forces just trying to take the beach, just what is Hokage-sama thinking ? It was obvious they would have strong defenses ready to ambush us after the first assault."_ Kakashi did not understand the purpose of this battle, he simply obeyed and led the men under his command.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, With Hiruzen and Jiraya**

* * *

While Hiruzen was analyzing the enemy's approach and relaying their positions to Naruto with his summons, Jiraiya did his best to put out the fires that appeared from the many projectile that were sent their way. He had summoned some help as well, in the form of smaller to medium sized toads which all specialized in **Suiton** jutsu. He would have called upon Gamabunta but Hiruzen told him not to, the Boss of the Gama clan was far too easy to see and it would have allowed Danzo to know that he and Tsunade were among them.

"Hoi, how long are we supposed to do this, old man ?" Jiraiya asked as he leaped in front of the old man, riding a horse sized orange toad. He had been running left and right for the last hour, using collaboration ninjutsu with his summons in order to defend the city.

"I don't know, I had secretly hoped the amount of casualties they were suffering would deter them from further advancing. I guess I was wrong, I underestimated the control Danzo has on his troops, it's as if they don't fear death ..." Sarutobi mused out loud.

"Look at them going, they're like cockroaches, not even caring for their own lives. This is Danzo's representation of the Will of Fire, mindless drones fighting for their Kage to the bitter end." The Gama sennin said as he landed near his teacher.

Whatever Hiruzen was about to reply was covered by the loud sound of an explosion, coming from the other side of the island. This was the direction were Naruto and the ships were stationed. There was no way to reach that place by foot without going from inside the city, that meant that whatever attacked came from the sea.

Using the goggles, master and student were able to see the Musashi on fire and the responsible for those attacks. On board a ship that led many other ships behind it, was the one and only Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, Danzo Shimura. The strangest thing was that those ships were all under the banner of Kirigakure …

"Danzo … He waited all this time for us to reveal our cards." Hiruzen growled as the mastermind behind all this finally showed himself.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now folks. This has to be the longest chapter I ever wrote, took me a little more than a month to get it done so I hope it pleases my readers. I have not forgotten about the scene in Kumo, all will be explained in due time.

I know we don't see Naruto and the girls very much in this chapter, there's a reason for this and we also have the introduction of 'new' important characters in the cast. On that note, I really hope the appearances of Jiraiya and Tsunade will be nicely received for they will play a big part in the story from now on.

Don't be so surprised about Koyuki being apprenticed by the J man, I tried to find someone original who I could also create interactions with for both Naruto and Jiraiya. We will see more about her as well in the future. You have to remember Jiraiya always believed he would find and teach the child of the prophecy, that's kind of his life quest and with Naruto being gone ...

Now onto the 'bad' guys, I know Danzo seemed a little too easy to 'beat' in the previous chapters. I hope this will 'redeem' the War Hawk once the battle is over. Sasuke is still Sasuke, one mind track newbie with the intellect of a cockroach, yeah I pretty hate the guy :)

Finally, as usual please Read and Review.


	17. Warriors of Legends

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

I know it's been a while since the previous release and I'm sorry it took so long. This doesn't keep new readers from subscribing to this story and writing nice comments in their reviews. For that, I am very grateful and, hopefully, the next release won't take this long to come out. Gomen, Mina !

Since the last release, I had my first case of story 'stealing' this week. Some author decided to create a 'new' story named **Hyoton no Naruto**. The problem is that he used contents from my other story '**Kaze no Kami**' and, when I say content, the truth is that he literally copied entire blocks from the chapters and simply pasted them as his own. All that without the hint of a credit nor asking me for authorization, I thank all those who saw and reported this to me or the admins.

There has been an interesting 'anonymous' review about Naruto's level of strength for the previous chapter. As I said several times, constructive criticism about the story is absolutely fine, just try to keep it polite and make an account if you ask questions so I can get back to you instead of here, in my opening author notes.

Back to the topic at hand, there seems to be a slight misconception. Naruto is, and will always be, the strongest character in my stories. I like them that way and I clearly warn my readers about the Godlike status of our favorite blond so don't come complaining about him being overpowered. To be clear, his current problems have nothing to do with his strength, it's all about strategy. Danzo is not a fool and should be able to plan such a siege, regardless of his prowess at the shinobi arts.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 17 : Warriors of Legends**

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, Eastern shores**

Chaos, it was the only word to define the situation around the Yamato. Naruto had troubles to keep his balance with the annoying ringing sounds that polluted his ears, a known after effect from being too close to an explosion. Looking around, the blond also saw that the others aboard their ship were disoriented just like him, though fortunately no casualty were reported.

Confusion was quickly replaced by panic, when he took a better look at the Musashi. The ship that was placed under Miya's temporary command was the one that sustained the most damages, taking the full force behind whatever hit them. While the Yamato was physically fine, the Musashi had its mast cut down in two parts, added to the multiple fires starting all over its deck.

Taking a better look at the source of the initial attack, Naruto saw the Kiri fleet, wondering why the people of Misu would target him or Nami. He got his answer as his eyes fell on a man aboard Kiri's flagship, Shimura Danzo. He couldn't see Mei among them and hoped she wasn't involved, but that would have to wait for now. More pressing matters were presenting themselves to them in the form of an incoming volley of boulders rigged with explosive tags from the enemy fleet.

Naruto knew that the Musashi would not be able to make it back to the port on its own with its mast down. There was no way to have all its crew come over the Yamato either, the operation would take too much time, leaving them vulnerable to their enemies. Taking a silent resolution, the commander of the Yamato knew what needed to be done and quickly formulated a plan in his mind. Naruto then made a single Shadow Clone without any hand sign before speaking to his crew.

"Kazehana, you will assume command over the Yamato and pull the second ship back toward Nami in order to repair. Rana, Stella, you're both on damage control, we will not have much time once the ships reach the land." He announced, taking a few steps toward the back of deck while his shadow clone remained behind. He was stopped in his track by the appearance of Tayuya, closely followed by the rest of the Diva.

"Wait, what about you Naruto-kun ?" The red head asked, worried about her distant relative. On an instinctive level Tayuya already knew what Naruto's next move would be, being a relatively good strategist herself. There was no way in hell the enemy would let them safely fall back, they would need some kind of a diversion in order to do so …

"Don't worry about me, I promise I'll be right behind you guys." Naruto replied with a smile as he jumped out of the ship, landing on the sea. Using chakra to stand on water, he took off toward the enemy fleet without even looking back.

"We have our orders, I don't like them either but we have no choice but to trust Naruto-kun." Miya said, receiving nods from the other girls while both ships took the opposite direction. Fortunately, even with their reduced speed, the enemy could not reach them with their weapons. The difference in the technology level between their ships and the Musashi or the Yamato was quite obvious.

* * *

**Open Seas, With Danzo**

* * *

Located deep in the center of the fleet from Kirigakure, Danzo observed the battle. He was escorted by a squad of elite ANBU from the Leaf while Kirigakure was represented by its High Council. The Mizukage, Terumi Mei, was nowhere to be found. The War Hawk had to admit, it was quite a sight, Kiri had brought over more than one thousand troops, evenly dispatched among their fifty ships.

All around them, said ships were firing their long range weapons. Unlike Naruto's ships, theirs only had catapults with limited ranges and less than accurate aims. Their reload time was also extremely slow and the number of operative in order to maneuver them was higher. Despite all this, they had the advantage with their overwhelming numbers, the net was slowly but surely closing itself around the people of Nami and their protectors.

"First line, advance. Second line, cover fire. The rest will stay on standby until further instructions." Danzo said as his men relayed the orders throughout the fleet. The Godaime Hokage analyzed his enemy's movements and decided to remain prudent. The Kuro No Kitsune had proven several times that he was a fine strategist and quite a resourceful man after all.

"What are you doing, they are retreating. We should have charged in with every ship we have at our disposal, Hokage-dono." A Kiri Council member said, getting nods of approval from his peers. The Godaime merely looked back and immediately focused his attention on the battle again.

"Do not forget our deal, gentlemen. I will lead this operation as I see fit and you shall receive gold, land and power once the battle is over. Nevertheless, to answer the question I will borrow the words someone once told me. There is nothing more dangerous or vicious than a cornered animal." Danzo replied, trying to figure out the masked blond's next move.

* * *

**In the City, with Jiraiya**

* * *

Hiruzen and Jiraiya could only watch as their enemies were progressing, unchallenged, toward the city. Ever since the support from the sea was disrupted, things had become much more difficult for the defenders of the village.

An important part of the crew from each ship had stayed within the walls of the city to fend off the ground invasion. They were now overrun by shinobi of the Leaf, trying to get in the perimeter they had established. Understaffed and isolated from their chain of command, each group dispatched all around the city did its best to defend their position but it proved to be much harder than expected. The first wave had been repelled by Jiraiya himself, the experienced shinobi had no trouble to take down the Uchiha and the few men of his who had tagged along.

* * *

_Flashback : A few moments ago, in front of the city's gates_

* * *

"Here we go, once I destroy the gates I want you all to climb up their walls and strike the enemies from behind." Sasuke yelled as he and the members of his group were approaching the large gates of the city.

"Hai, Uchiha-sama." Replied the men as they increased their pace, boosted by the thought of being the firsts to enter the enemy's fortress. Sasuke had around fifty men with him, a small group when compared to the thousand troops that composed the ground forces. Nevertheless he was sure it was enough in order to take the gates down.

"**Doton : Yomi Numa !"** They suddenly heard as the ground beneath their feet started to shake. Not even a second later, the surface around the gates turned into a giant swamp, effectively stopping the charge.

Even among the fastest ones, including Sasuke, no one could escape the trap since the range of that **Doton** jutsu was far wider than what they expected. The few who had the time to jump before the ground started to change were caught as soon as they landed again, a few meters away. Looking up toward the source of the voice, the members of the strike force were astonished as their eyes fell on

the form of Jiraiya, the Legendary Toad Sage, sitting on top of a horse sized toad.

"**Katon : Gamayu Endan !"** The Sennin lost no time as he unleashed a torrent of powerful flames toward his trapped opponents, strengthening his attack with the oil from his summoned partner. The attack was so potent it even melted the ground around the swamp.

The Leaf shinobi stood no chance against such an attack, there would be no remain of their corpses but ashes. Only their leader, Uchiha Sasuke, had managed to get away using a substitution with a large piece of wood that only his Sharingan eyes could have seen, considering its distance.

The young heir, however, never thought that Jiraiya would have anticipated such a move from him. As soon as he replaced himself with the log, reappearing a few meters away, Jiraiya smirked as he did a single hand sign toward Sasuke. Activating several exploding tags that had been placed there beforehand, Jiraiya left the younger shinobi with no chance to escape again.

Sasuke never saw what hit him as the detonation instantly knocked him out and propelled his body backward. The young heir was the only one left alive from their little group, unconscious but alive. The others either perished in the swamp, swallowed by the ground or burnt alive by the follow up assault from Jiraiya.

"So much for Konoha's prodigy ..." Mused the Gama Sennin.

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

Standing on top of the gates, Jiraiya saw the rest of the ground forces advancing. He knew they had no chance against such numbers and consequently ordered the men around him to fall back inside, toward the center of the city.

"Tell the old man that the external perimeter has been compromised. I will cover your retreat then follow right after that." Jiraiya yelled, as the men started to fall back. There was no other choice, it wasn't safe for them to remain there without the support from the ships. The battle would now turn into a guerrilla fight, within the very buildings of the city.

"_I hope sensei has a plan ..."_ Jiraiya mused as he also began to prepare himself for the incoming assault.

* * *

**With Hiruzen**

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen observed from his position the combined armies of the enemy advancing toward the city. From the front stood the Leaf, most likely the strongest ground forces in all the Elemental Nations. At their rear came the armada from Kirigakure, while not as advanced as Naruto's ships, they still had their overwhelming number for them. A few minutes had passed since he saw both of Naruto's and Jiraiya's retreat toward the city, the Sandaime was already going through several plans in order for them to survive this battle.

The veteran turned back as a distinctive poof of smoke warned him about someone having used the **Shunshin** to join him. Jiraiya and Naruto were the ones who appeared, it was strange how the both of them arrived almost at the same time. While neither looked injured, the old man immediately saw that something was off with his blond younger apprentice, though he chose not to question it.

"What's the status on your end, Sensei ?" Naruto asked as soon as he arrived, ignoring Jiraiya or all the chaos that surrounded them. He knew that the old man would have an accurate analysis of their current situation.

"Not good, I'm afraid. With no cover fire from the sea they were able to reach the city much faster than what we anticipated. My former student Jiraiya managed to hold their first attempt back, but the next one will get through for sure." Hiruzen replied, stroking his white beard as he described to Naruto the events that took place on the other side of the city.

"What about the sea, why is Kirigakure helping them ?" Jiraiya asked as he joined the conversation.

"It's not good either, I'm not sure how but your old friend Danzo is in charge of their fleet. I could not see any trace of Mei, something must have happened to her. I know that she would have never allied herself with the likes of Danzo." Naruto replied, finally noticing the Gama Sennin standing beside them.

"Mei ? Are you acquainted with the Mizukage or something ? Who are you anyway, beside what's written about you in the Bingo book." Jiraiya asked him, still wondering about their first meeting and the blond's face which looked almost identical to one Namikaze Minato. Naruto's eyes moved toward Hiruzen's and, with a nod, the old man gave him the assurance that Jiraiya was trustworthy.

"Very well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I know very well who you are, Jiraiya-san. I also know how close you were to my parents and the role they asked you to assume as my godfather. It sure feels strange to finally meet you after all those years. Nevertheless, this is neither the time nor the place to have this conversation." Naruto replied, noticing Jiraiya's reactions to his answer. At first the Gama Sennin was surprised, then remorse and guilt took over and finally he just lowered his head, looking away to hide his shame.

"Anyway, to answer your other question, yes, I am friend with Terumi Mei. I was once affiliated with Mizu no Kuni, as a mercenary of sorts. We didn't part on the best terms but I have no doubt that she isn't responsible for what is currently going on with their fleet." Naruto added, ignoring Jiraiya's current state.

"It's useless to wonder about such matters right now for we have much bigger issues to deal with. Evacuation seems to be the only way out of this, how about an escape from the sea, Naruto-kun ? How are the ships and do you think we have a chance ?" Hiruzen asked, knowing Naruto would have taken that possibility into consideration.

"Not an option for the moment, the Musashi is down. I only saw the visible part of their fleet, there is no telling what could be hidden beyond the horizon. We would need to have both ships in perfect shape in order to evacuate the entire city. We will put that option on hold for now." Naruto said with a heavy sigh.

"You're a clone, aren't you ?" Jiraiya asked the blond, narrowing his eyes as he did. Hiruzen finally understood the feeling he had earlier, when 'Naruto' appeared before him. He should have known, the blond would always put the safety of his people before his own.

"Hmm, very impressive of you to have noticed. I'm quite proud of the quality of my clones. Almost everyone beside my wives would be fooled by them. Yes, I'm a clone. The 'real' me should still be out there, slowing down their movements as well as assessing the enemy's real strength. I arrived just a moment ago with the girls on the Yamato, we're docked at the port." The clone answered.

"With our ships in such a state it would probably be a wiser choice to consider the land as our exit strategy, if it comes to it. We had better faced Kakashi than Danzo at the moment, given the hand we've been dealt with." Hiruzen mused out loud.

"You weren't there at the gates. The Leaf advanced three times, I killed over a hundred of them at point blank range and still they took the ground. That is the measure of their resolve and Danzo's hold on them. Either way, going back toward the Continent is not an option, we will either escape through the sea route, defend or perish with this town." Jiraiya replied.

"You do not need to worry that much, Jiraiya-san. I have accepted the position of Protector of this village and shall see my task done. Take all the force you need to hold them back outside our walls. As soon as the repairs for the Musashi are done, we will repel them out of Nami no Kuni. Leave it to me for the seas, I merely wanted to see who and how strong our attackers were, they will not get through, Nami will not fall." Naruto said in a very confident manner.

"Very well, Naruto-kun. Dispel yourself to update the 'real' you about the situation. We will prepare for an evacuation of the entire city nevertheless. I trust your abilities but we have a responsibility to the people of Nami." Hiruzen decided, putting the issue of their exit path on hold.

"I'll go meet Tsunade and the girls as well as prepare the civilians for what's to come. Don't die on me old man, you too Naruto, we still have lots of things to discuss." Jiraiya said as he disappeared in a **Shunshin**.

"I shouldn't have to remind you but, don't overdo it Naruto-kun. We will need you at your best for any plan to work." Hiruzen told his student just before the clone dispelled itself. _"I am getting too old for this shit ..."_ He thought as he returned to his observation spot.

* * *

**With Naruto**

* * *

Naruto's plan to delay the advance of the fleet from Kiri worked, no doubt about it. The problem is that in order for the Yamato and Musashi to safely return to Nami, he had allowed himself to get in quite a peculiar situation. Indeed while the real Naruto gained the memories from his clone, he did not forget that he had also willingly walked right into the middle of a lion's den, or, in the Hawk's nest given the situation.

All around him were Kiri's ships, some had even gone behind him, cutting the retreat path toward the land. Weapons of all kind were aimed at him while the flagship was making its way there. The blond had put his mask on again and was leisurely waiting for Danzo to come and face him.

- Skip -

"We meet again, Kuro no Kitsune. Not running away this time ?" Danzo asked as he and the High Council of Kiri arrived. They had remained, of course, at a relatively safe distance from Naruto's position, on board their ship with special units all around them to ensure their protection. The men and women of Kiri's fleet held their breath as the masked warrior stood, completely unfazed by the fact that all their weapons were aimed at several vital points of his body.

"I was hired by the Daimyo in order to protect the borders of Nami no Kuni from all its enemies. I demand that you and your men fall back toward wherever it is that you came from without further damages. Do so and you shall live, press any further and this ocean shall become your tomb." The masked man replied in a strong voice, loud enough for all the men around him to hear his words.

"It is quite a rude thing for one to engage negotiations without revealing his face and real name. I, Shimura Danzo, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure and Supreme Commander of this fleet want to know who is facing me." The War Hawk spoke, his gaze not missing a single detail from his prey's reactions.

"_Interesting, I could always use a **Henge** but he must have several doujutsu users among his men. I need to win a little more time for everyone to safely prepare the city. It is a bit earlier that expected but I guess I have no other choice ..."_ Naruto thought. A few seconds passed when he finally moved again, slowly rising both hands behind his head in order to lower his mask.

Danzo's blood froze at the sight of the face hidden behind that mask. Similarly to Danzo, the more experienced shinobi paled when they saw Naruto's face, the same face which belonged to the man who was once considered to be the strongest shinobi ever born within the Elemental Nations. The stalemate continued until a new presence made its way onto the large deck of Kirigakure's flagship.

"Is something the matter, Danzo-dono ?" Sojiro asked as he appeared behind the Godaime. Naruto's eyes widened at the new arrival, this new player meant troubles for him. _"What the hell is he doing here, I made sure to sink his fleet. This changes everything, if the Old Goat Kaido is involved."_ The blond mused.

"Namikaze Minato ? H-How is this possible, Hokage-dono ?" Stuttered one of the council member from Kiri as they recognized the legendary Yellow Flash. Soon enough, whispers spread among the whole fleet as the younger shinobi were finally updated on whom they were facing. A wind of panic rose as they realized that the enemy was none other than the Leaf's former Yondaime Hokage.

"_Oh … This could prove interesting, Namikaze Minato is it? I could use this to gain some time and confuse them. Let's see if I can make a good show out of this."_ Naruto thought as he heard the name that was currently spreading among his enemies.

Having nothing to reply to neither the councilman nor Sojiro, Danzo immediately turned his head toward a Hyuga who was escorting him. The silent command was instantly understood as the man activated his **Byakugan** and started to scan Naruto's appearance.

"No mistake about it, Hokage-sama. I am not detecting any genjutsu nor **Henge** around the target." The ANBU spoke as he bowed to his master and returned to his position. The confirmation had the effect of a bomb among the people on board the flagship and fear immediately replaced confusion.

"What is it about a name that makes you people so worried about it ?" Sojiro asked, as he could not understand why such a name scared the people around him that much, assuming it was the Kuro no Kitsune real name. The commander of the forces from the Lord of the Southern Seas never cared to ask for a real name from his master's nemesis.

"Namikaze Minato is or was the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure. Even though his reign was a short one, his name will forever be remembered since he ended the Third Shinobi World War all by himself. Using highly complex techniques, he decimated foe after foe without a hint of hesitation. Numbers meant nothing against him as he was a master of time and space. That, is the man who is currently standing before us ..." The same councilor who first called out Naruto's father name said, answering Sojiro's question.

"Assuming by the fact that you used the past tense to speak about him and also that Danzo-dono is the Godaime, I guess something happened to him and everyone thought the man was dead." Sojiro asked again, oblivious to the events that took place in Konohagakure years ago.

"Yes, he died more than twenty years ago, defending the village against the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He lost his life but took the beast with him. I saw his body, there's no way to fool my eyes. The man in front of us cannot be Namikaze Minato." Danzo added as he finally regained his composure, he left out the fact that Minato did not kill the bijuu but sealed it instead, they may be allies but intelligence control had always been his policy.

Before anything else could be added, all heads turned toward the ship that was the closest from the enemy's position. The spot where Naruto stood not even a second ago, was now empty and instead, the closest ship now had a giant hole right in the middle of its structure. The only word everyone heard when they saw the blond emerging from the sea underneath his target, sent chills down their spine.

"**Rasengan !"** Naruto yelled as he literally went through the deck of his first target, holding in his right hand a small ball of swirling energy. That jutsu tore through everything, wood, metal and, of course, flesh … The assault did not stop there though, as soon as he took a step on board that ship, Naruto took a kunai out, threw it toward the closest ship and then with a single '**Ram**' hand sign he disappeared in a huge and devastating explosion.

The explosion rocked the entire area, pieces of the former Kiri ship were thrown in every directions while the blond reappeared on the deck of the second ship. Repeating the same pattern, he emerged from underneath, used a **Rasengan** to stop his target's movements then detonated before taking off toward a new victim.

"T-Those are the **Rasengan** and the **Hiraishin no Jutsu**, are they not ? Explain, Danzo-dono." The Councilors asked, terrified by Naruto's display of power. In the span of a few seconds, the man had used not one but two of the Yondaime Hokage's signature jutsu. The results proved to be as deadly as they were rumored to be when Namikaze Minato annihilated entire platoons of Iwa shinobi back in the Third Great War.

For once, Shimura Danzo was at a loss. He had a **Byakugan** user confirm to him that no genjutsu was used and yet, his brain refused to acknowledge what his eye was seeing. Namikaze Minato, as young as he was the last time he was seen alive, using moves than only him could use. Danzo was well aware that Jiraiya and maybe Kakashi were able to replicate the **Rasengan**. However, Minato was the only one who could use the **Hiraishin** like that.

He did make sure that the Yondaime died, twenty one years ago after the Kyuubi attack. Danzo had placed a spy at the morgue to testify that the body retrieved was indeed Minato's, even going as far as extracting some DNA samples to make sure that everything checked out. Unfortunately for him, those sample were not enough for him to access the Namikaze's Vault and Mansion. It seems only someone with a pulse and the DNA of Minato could unlock those treasures. Nevertheless, here was a man who could perform the **Hiraishin** and **Rasengan** as if they were mere E-ranked techniques.

* * *

**Within the City**

* * *

With a large smile on his face, the Sandaime watched how his young apprentice was fairing against the combined forces of Kiri and Danzo's Elites. He was soon joined by Jiraiya, as the Gama Sennin appeared behind him.

"Am I looking at what I think I am ?" Jiraiya asked, as he saw Naruto decimating the enemy's fleet. Every last bit of doubt he had about Naruto's real identity disappeared at the sight of the **Rasengan**. Hiruzen was strangely silent during all this, a creepy smile upon his face.

"Who knows … That boy always had a knack for pranks and acting." The older man replied, not missing a bit of Danzo's miserable face. His old pal had always appreciated when his plans went according to his strategy. The only problem for that with someone like Naruto, is that he isn't one you can easily predict or predict at all for that matter.

"I can understand you teaching him the **Rasengan** but how did he even learn the **Hiraishin** ? I'm quite sure only Minato knew about it." Jiraiya asked him. He was still upset that Minato wouldn't teach him the jutsu, it would have been the Ultimate move in order for him to do his 'research'.

"You are both right and wrong, I did teach him the **Rasengan**, but, neither he nor I know about the **Hiraishin**. Not fighting for such a long time must have dulled your shinobi senses, Jiraiya. Take a better look, he isn't performing the **Hiraishin** at all..." The Sarutobi answered with a heavy sigh.

The Toad summoner had to check the battlefield again but then, mirroring Hiruzen's smile, he too understood what Naruto was currently doing. Laughing out loud, he took a seat next to his former sensei and relaxed a bit.

"He definitely got his father's skills but the attitude, that, he got it from his mother." Jiraiya said as he and Hiruzen shared a good laugh at the situation and Danzo falling right into Naruto's trap.

* * *

**Back on the Sea**

* * *

"Steer clear ! Steer clear ! He cannot land on our ships without marking them beforehand. The only way for him to use that damn jutsu is to throw his kunais and then summon himself to them. Keep a safe distance from him and you will be safe." Danzo yelled from the flagship as he, and the captains around him, were trying to save as many ships as possible.

"_I've seen the **Hiraishin** several times before and even though this is quite similar to my memories of it, there's still something wrong with this man. What is this feeling in my gut, what am I missing here ?"_ The Godaime Hokage still had a hard time believing what his eyes were showing him.

So far, using the same method, Naruto had destroyed ten ships from their fleet, crew included. The blond was merciless on the battlefield, taking no prisoners and leaving no witnesses. The soldiers on board the closest ships from his position were so scared that they almost wanted to abandon the mission and swim back toward Kiri.

Unknown to all but Hiruzen and Jiraiya, Naruto was indeed destroying the fleet from Kiri, although not in the manner everyone thought he was. What they all believed to be the second coming of the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** was in fact a trick, a very elaborate one for sure, but still a trick. Only someone with extraordinary skills and, of course, a very twisted mind could pull this off.

Hidden deeply near the bottom of the ocean, Naruto concealed his presence and chakra to the limit. Summoning **Kage Bunshin** after **Kage Bunshin**, he perfectly timed their movements to match the exact time they needed to appear on the battlefield, and fool his enemies into believing that he was jumping from one ship to another using the **Hiraishin**. The **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** was absolutely perfect for such a use. Needing no communication in order to convey his battle plan, the clones did what was expected from them while the real Naruto safely remained behind.

His little play would soon come to an end though, since the ships were slowly but surely distancing themselves from his position, rendering the kunai throwing thing useless. It was of no consequence for Naruto since his mission was already a success. The enemy fleet was stopped, even better than that, it was put into a total chaos. In their maneuver to steer clear from each other, several ships had bumped into each other, generating even more disorder onto an already chaotic battlefield.

The area where Naruto previously stood was now a giant shipwreck, dead bodies and torn ships all around him. The sounds coming from the explosions of his previous assault were soon replaced by a strange silence and every eyes from the enemy's fleet were intently focused on him. He remained totally unfazed by the destruction he had just created, gently floating above the ocean that had just claimed the lives from more than two hundred enemies.

"_We're doomed now, that really was the Hiraishin !" "There's no defense against such an attack."_ Those assumptions were repeatedly pronounced around the fleet. The troops' morale was reaching an all time low as desperation could be seen on every faces. The Kiri representatives were already pressing Danzo into signaling a full scale retreat and cut their losses. The War Hawk remained as stoic as ever though, merely ignoring his 'hosts' opinion.

With a single nod from the Godaime, one agent from his escort went to the drum players in order to relay his master's new orders. The beat played by the War Drums on the flagship instantly changed, greatly accelerating and soon enough, it was repeated among the entire fleet. Those among the more experienced councilors understood the new tone, disbelief painted on their faces. The man had just ordered the emergency debarkation and a full scale charge.

"Danzo-dono, what is the meaning of this ? This man's jutsu ..." A representative pleaded.

"That fool has played his little trick, he shall only play it once. We will not let him get in range any longer." Danzo replied while he continued to give out orders to the fleet captains. "Reform the lines and fire at will toward his position. Activate self-destruct seals on every ship of the fleet and have them ready to detonate if he ever manages to land on one of them."

"We're too far from the coast, there's no telling when his ships will come back. Hundreds will die !" The Kiri member replied, trying his best to reason with Danzo. It all fell into deaf ears though as the Hokage would continue to ignore them.

"Even a thousand if it comes to that. Whose army do you think is currently forcing its way through the land ? I will not loosen this front so the enemy could slaughter them while you safely return to your country as the coward you are." Danzo's tone was clear, there was no going back.

"What about this ship, Hokage-sama ? Should we apply the seals on this ship as well ?" One Root operative asked, kneeling before his master.

"Especially on this ship, this would be the perfect target for him." Was Danzo's response, ignoring the shouts of protest and indignation coming from his 'peers'.

Once all the safety countermeasures against the '**Hiraishin**' were set, the fleet resumed its advance toward Nami no Kuni. Soldiers from every ship had started to disembark, following the fleet while water walking toward their objective. By spreading the front in such a manner, Danzo had hoped to decrease Naruto's efficiency.

"Are you sure it is the appropriate way to deal with him, Danzo-dono ?" Sojiro asked, after having witnessed the whole thing. He knew first hand that someone of the Kuro no Kitsune's caliber should never be underestimated.

"I've seen enough of that Kuro no Kitsune, whoever he is. He and the people of Nami won't pass the night." Danzo replied, dismissing his guest's worries.

Naruto for his part smirked at the display of his enemy's strategy. The blond started to fall back with the first mortar volley from the Kiri fleet. He had achieved what he came for, his opponents had set their first troops free and traveled much slower toward the city. Everything was accomplished with the use of a very bold move from him, mimicking his father's jutsu while taking advantage of their physical resemblance. The elimination of two hundred plus hostiles was a worthy bonus as well.

"So it's finally time for their final assault." He said to no one in particular while slowly evading the easily predictable trajectories from the enemy's weapons. Naruto watched from afar, as the people were still tending to the Musashi and its broken mast. They had the time to make the major repairs but still needed some more time. He was interrupted in his musings by the loud sound of strangely familiar horn been blown.

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, at the Docks**

* * *

"What the hell ?" Miria yelled as she spotted the origin of the disturbance. Near the horizon behind the fleet from Kiri, advanced another fleet displaying some unknown banners. Enhancing the range of her sight, she finally recognized the new arrivals.

"Galatea, what is it ?" Miya asked the sensor of their group, unable to see as far as Miria or Galatea and worried about Miria's sudden silence.

"It's a fleet from the Southern Empire. We were so focused on the things here that I couldn't sense it until just now." She replied, her eyes closed, she only used her sensors abilities in order to check up on their enemies.

"We need to join Naruto-kun immediately. Rana, Stella see that the repairs are done and then launch the ships out again. Each of you will lead one of them." Kazehana intervened, her tone was for once totally serious and left no room for arguing to their younger members.

"Roger / Alright." Were the answers she got from them. Tayuya and the Diva felt completely left out of the conversation. They chose not to question the orders from Naruto's seniors officers and remained behind with Stella and Rana.

With that, Miya, Kazehana, Galatea and Miria all took off at lightning speed toward their husband.

"Okay, what the hell just happened ?" Tayuya finally asked as the older women left.

"The new fleet behind the first one belongs to Kaido, Emperor of The South. He is one of Naruto's greatest enemy and rules over a very large territory to the South West of our current position. They had a skirmish with us not that long ago. There should have been no survivors, I guess one of them managed to escape. That fleet is most likely sent as reinforcement ..." Stella replied, worried about how Naruto would react to all this.

* * *

**Back on the Sea**

* * *

The smirk from Naruto's face disappeared, Danzo had outplayed him. Maybe the blond was not the only one trying to win some time, all this time, the War Hawk had been expecting reinforcement. It surprisingly came from the Southern Empire.

On the Kiri flagship, Danzo was already taking in the moment, delighted at the sight of his enemy's frowning face. The representatives from Kiri were mad at not being told beforehand about the plan but overall they still acknowledged the Hokage's ingenuity.

"A true strategist only engages all of his forces once the battle is already won." The Godaime spoke, ignoring the looks of awe he was getting from his audience. Sojiro remained quiet, the commander from the Southern Empire knew better than to celebrate a victory before the last opponent is down.

"Once the fleet arrives, I will assume command over them and assist you in this battle, as promised. His Majesty should have sent enough men to force our way in, though I urge you to remain prudent. The Kuro no Kitsune will not fall that easily, believe me." He said, eyes still locked upon Naruto's position.

- Skip -

On the other side of the field, stood Naruto with his wives who had joined him while the enemy was reforming the ranks. The blond updated them on what was happening, his ploy to stall for as long as possible and then the appearance of Sojiro and the Southern Fleet.

"There's no other choice, it will deplete me of more than half my reserves but it needs to be done. I believe that its appearance shall bring enough chaos for the plan to work. Miria and Kazehana shall relay this to Jiji while Galatea and Miya stay here with me." Naruto decided, as he performed hand signs and released massive amounts of chakra.

Water and Air became saturated with chakra as the blond armed his jutsu. On board the enemy ship, Sojiro's eyes widened as he recognized what the Kuro no Kitsune was attempting to do. Running to the edge of the ship's deck he was soon joined by a surprised Danzo.

"What's wrong ?" The Hokage asked, seeing the man frowned.

"You are about to see why the man is hailed as the Umi no Haoshoku. I hope you are ready to face the strongest foe you will ever meet. This man holds one of the mythical summoning contracts, the power to dominate even the Will of the Oceans." Sojiro replied as he braced himself for what was coming.

"**Ninpo : Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Umi no Ikari !"** Naruto yelled as a gigantic shadow spread all over him. The tide and waves completely stopped in the area around him, as if Nature itself was waiting for something to happen.

Soon enough, the blond fell to his knees, visibly weakened by the jutsu he just used. Those who did not know about him just remained unmoving, still wondering about what had just happened when a monstrous inhumane growl shook the entire ocean.

… **Growl ...**

The ten closest ships to Naruto were instantly crushed as ten humongous tentacles emerged from the bottom of the sea. The rest of the body soon appeared from beneath the blond's feet. It was as tall as the Hokage Monument and looked like a giant squid.

"**Why have you summoned me in such a place ?"** The creature spoke, retracting its ten tentacles from the ships it had just destroyed. It raised its head above water level just for his eyes to appear.

"Long time no see, Kraken." Naruto replied, standing on top of the creature with the help of Miya and Galatea. "Time to show the world who rules over the seas, dinner is served early today ..."

* * *

**A/N : **There you go, most likely the longest chapter I ever wrote. Of course I stopped on a cliffy to keep up the good habits.

* * *

The battle for Nami no Kuni is reaching its peak, with the clash between the combined fleet of Kiri and the reinforcement from the mysterious Emperor of the South. Naruto responds in kind with his summoning jutsu.

I bet many of you thought I'd give him the **Hiraishin**, not happening, well not right now anyway. How did the 'fake' **Hiraishin** go ? Does it seem possible enough ? I really have no clue honestly.

A little bit is revealed about the blond's powers and his links to the Sea. I tried to have an original summoning contract, not tied to one animal, but instead connected to the entire aquatic world. As such, he will be able summon almost everything linked to the Sea, and not only living creatures, I won't say more than that for the moment though :)

Next time will mark the end of the battle, be ready for more surprises to come.

* * *

**New Jutsu**

* * *

**Ninpo : Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Umi no Ikari**, translates as Ninja Arts : Summoning jutsu, Wrath of the Sea. As you could read, it allows Naruto to summon the Kraken, a mythical creature. Google it if you really have no clue of what I'm talking about.


	18. Lightning Strikes

**A/N**: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.

* * *

Wow nice, everybody loved the Kraken summoning. I guess it really pays to stray from the all too common Toad, Dragon, Foxes and the likes. I will keep that in mind, and try to continue with that kind of reasoning. To answer some of you, I have not really thought about which contract I should give to the girls, suggestions will be taken into consideration for that matter.

I had doubts about the feasibility of the fake **Hiraishin** but was proven wrong as most of you found it realistic enough. Thanks again to all those who contributed by reviewing and sharing opinions. It really improves an author's motivation and self-confidence when he or she gets feedback from their readers.

While I wrote this chapter, the story just crossed over the thousand favs. That's awesome, I already knew from the story's stats that it would be as popular as the first one if not better. However, to see it doing so well is still impressive.

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.

* * *

**Chapter 18 : Lightning Strikes**

* * *

**Nami no Kuni, Eastern shores**

The men and women from the fleet watched in horror as the great beast rose from the bottom of the ocean, sending huge waves toward their ships. Since it was close to midnight, the only light sources in the area were the several torches on each of their ships. With those circumstances, only one small part of the monstrous creature could clearly be seen by the crowd, its head. The rest of its body was shrouded in darkness, only giving it a scarier appearance if such a feat was even possible.

"What are you doing, you fools, fire at them !" Danzo roared, he was the first to regain his senses. The rest of his army, even his Elite Guard, were still stunned at the sight of a beast that could only have come out of their worst nightmare.

The Godaime's outburst woke the fleet up and every last one of their ships resumed its attack on the Kuro no Kitsune. Firing a volley of boulders toward the blond and two of his companions who were still standing on top of the creature's head, they did not receive the reaction they were expecting.

The blond had previously chosen to evade. However now, he did not even move a muscle when the first missiles came his way. The boulder exploded mid air, blocked by one of the Kraken's tentacle. The ship which was responsible for the attack was instantly grabbed and then crushed by one of the beast's remaining 'arm'.

No matter how powerful the weapons from the Kiri-Konoha fleet were, the Kraken's shell was much tougher. None of their attempts had even come close to leave a mark on its skin, annoying the beast more than dealing any kind of real damage to it.

… **Growl … **

"**Pesky little man, how dare you summon me in such a place. I was in the middle of a meal, I hope you have prepared the necessary price in return."** The Kraken said in a loud voice, taking little interest in the battle around them. It was not like anything they were throwing at him had had any effect against him up until now. The Kraken merely used his arms to defend the man who had summoned him. It could have easily withstood the power behind those boulders but obviously his summoner most likely wouldn't.

"Yes, yes I have ... Now do you mind focusing some of that anger of yours against them, you lazy overgrown octopus." Naruto replied with a snort, ignoring the beast's temper or his wives shaking their head at his 'conversation' with the legendary creature.

"**You are lucky that I look forward to the reward, I would have killed you otherwise."** Kraken replied. **"Now … Let's see, some new faces and … Oh … Those fools from the Southern Sea, I really hate their guts. You've got yourself a deal, I'll even do it for half the usual price."** There was some bad blood between the Kraken and the Emperor of the South, only Naruto knew about it but the blond chose not to comment, his partner was finally in the mood after all.

The darkness was providing Naruto and the Kraken the perfect cover to attack and defend. While the enemy had to fire with no accurate aim toward the blond's position, he and his summon could clearly see them the moment they fired their weapons. Added to the fact that Galatea had stayed with him, his wife was using her sensory abilities to the fullest, providing him and the Kraken an accurate estimate of all the enemies' current positions.

Miya did not stand still during all this, using her long range abilities, she cut down several boulders that were out of range or too fast for the Kraken to intervene. The purple haired swords-woman did not have any trouble to locate her targets, once again thanks to Galatea's detection skills.

"We lost enough time, let's get started ! Give me some fuel !" Naruto shouted as he clasped both his hands together and started to gather chakra to his palms. The Kraken understood the order and used a secret pocket in his stomach, where it stored the necessary combustible for his summoner's next technique. Both of them started to inhale large quantities of air before they simultaneously expelled it toward the advancing enemy fleet.

"**Katon : Uzu Sen Ryu Ha !"** Naruto yelled as he fired a highly condensed fireball that ignited the multiple streams of oil that the Kraken had released at the same time. The combined projection of both formed what looked like one thousand burning dragons that fell from the Heavens toward the fleet from Kiri.

Cries of panic and desperation could be heard within the ships of the Kiri-Konoha Alliance, as they burned and sank. Naruto's jutsu had the visual effect of a meteor shower raining down on them, the area of effect was absolutely gigantic.

The technology level of those ships from Kiri did not allow them to maneuver fast enough to steer clear of there. Nevertheless, with the second fleet right behind them, they had no way to navigate outside the zone where the blazing dragons fell.

On board the Alliance's flagship the atmosphere was the same, the Council representatives were all stunned at the display of the Kuro no Kitsune's powers. The appearance of the Kraken had already shaken them to the core, but with the use of that fire jutsu, Naruto had literally brought hell down on them. In the 'heat' of the moment, no one saw two shadows slowly disappearing from the ship's deck.

* * *

**Within the City**

* * *

"What the hell is that thing ? Gamabunta looks like a small toad compared to its size !" Jiraiya had almost fell off the roof he was standing on, when Naruto had called upon the Wrath of the Sea. The Gama Sennin never imagined someone could summon a creature that much bigger than the boss of the toad contract.

"That's the Kraken, Naruto's strongest summon. This is only the second time that I've seen it though it still amazes me how such a creature can exist. The world really is a big place ..." Hiruzen replied, a bit of anxiety could be heard in his voice and Jiraiya did not miss it. They may not have seen each other in a long time but he was still his teacher, they spent too much time together in the past for the pervert to not notice Hiruzen's strange expression.

"What's wrong ? That beast is literally tearing through the ocean and the invading armies. Shouldn't you be, I don't know, a little bit happier about this ?" The Toad summoner asked his former sensei, unsure about what was bothering the older man.

"Unlike us, Naruto's summoning contract does not tie him to only one animal. He has the ability to call upon any kind of creature tied to the sea. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a toad or two that would answer his call." Hiruzen replied, not taking his eyes off the battlefield.

"However, for such an outstanding advantage there is always a drawback. Any creature summoned by him will continuously drain additional chakra from his reserves until it's either sent back or gets dispelled by a critical hit." The Sandaime continued, this time gaining Jiraiya's full attention.

"You should know firsthand the strain on chakra in order to summon a Boss-Class creature. Just try to imagine the consequences applied to the Kraken, a beast many times bigger than Gamabunta and much older than Lord Fukusaku. To just bring it into this world, Naruto should have used up at least half of his entire chakra reserves. I don't know how long Naruto will able to keep it up before it gets dangerous for his safety." The Sarutobi finished, cursing his old body and inability to do more for a man that was once called the God of Shinobi.

"How much of a drain are we talking about ? That kid should have more chakra than a dozen Kage combined, surely he could withstand the strain. His Uzumaki genes as well as the beast Minato did seal inside his gut should ensure this, are they not ?" Jiraiya asked, even though he was not there in Konoha when it happened, he knew of the terrible burden the late Yondaime had left Naruto with.

"Jiraiya, you better be really careful about the words you use in his presence when dealing with the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Even I do not know the full story but, to Naruto, the events that took place on that day were and will always be sensitive subject. To answer you, he has full control over the bijuu chakra inside his body. To match the needed output of energy, he should be on his fifth or sixth tail as we speak." Hiruzen said, warning his former student about Naruto's feelings about his jinchuriki status. Truthfully he knew more, however it was not his story to tell.

Jiraiya chose to not comment or pry on the jinchuriki thing, they had more urgent matters to discuss and there was definitely more to it than his sensei had revealed to him. A quick maths calculus made him realize that even though Naruto did use a godly amount of chakra, he'd still have much more to share than any Kage level shinobi in activity could spare.

"Wait a minute, that's six out of nine in the worst case scenario. Not even taking into consideration his own reserves which should also be huge, considering who his parents were, he should still have enough power to fight against them !" Jiraiya replied, wondering why the Sandaime was so worried.

"That's the true root of my fears, Jiraiya. When I said he has full control, it was the truth. However, no matter how you look at it, chakra from a bijuu was not meant to be used by a human being. The chakra is highly toxic to us non jinchuriki and only those with a cooperative relationship with their bijuu can somehow accommodate that foreign source of power. That being said, there are some side effects from the overuse of that chakra and, in Naruto's case, a particular emotion is heightened ..." Hiruzen revealed, only to be interrupted at this point by Jiraiya.

"Don't tell me ..." Jiraiya's eyes widened as he realized which emotion Hiruzen was talking about. It was not that hard to guess when he thought about which bijuu Naruto's powers originated from. The flashbacks of Kushina, Naruto's mother and former jinchuriki for the Kyuubi, flashed in his mind as he remembered how she behave when using too much bijuu chakra.

"Anger, yes." The older man answered with a heavy sigh. He distinctly remembered telling Naruto to not go over the top, as his young student always reacted like that when his precious people were involved in any kind of risk. If Naruto was without a doubt a bearer of the Will of Fire, the blond's fire was nonetheless sometimes fueled by his overprotective desire to protect his precious people.

"I told you NOT to tell me ..." Jiraiya replied as he stood up from his position near Hiruzen. "I am going back toward the gates, there is no way to avoid detection any longer. From now on, I will use everything I have in my arsenal in order to repel their ground forces." He said, leaping backward in the direction of the city gates. Watching Minato's son fight with such passion, he felt ashamed of himself, hiding behind like a civilian. Hopefully Tsunade and the girls would understand his choice to reveal himself to the Leaf.

* * *

**Back on the Sea**

* * *

"Hold the charge ! Retreat !" Roared a Kiri rep as he took in the devastation that happened in front of him. Never in his life had he seen so many deaths, it was no battle, it was a pure massacre. The order to turn back came far too late, most of their ships had already been destroyed or were in the process of collapsing from the multiple fires that came from the aerial strike.

"Hokage-dono, we should ..." Another Council member started, only to stop himself when he saw no trace of the War Hawk. His actions were soon mirrored by his peers as everyone started to look for the man responsible for all of this. They all came to the same conclusion fast enough, the man escaped, leaving them and even his escort behind.

The Root operatives did not even flinch when realizing that their master left them behind, facing a monster and a man who could invoke the Fury of the Heavens itself. Trained to obey, they merely continued to put out the fires on board the ship.

Another 'guest' was missing on the deck though, no one noticed Sojiro's absence. He was indeed a man discrete enough and with no aura like the one that Danzo was projecting around him. Where did the both of them go was the one million Ryo question in everyone's mind at the moment. Had they checked better, they would have seen the pair water walking toward the second fleet right at their back.

"What is the meaning of this, Konoha nins ? Where did your master go ?" Shouted the Kiri leaders while the Leaf shinobi ignored them, going on with their respective designated orders as the mere soulless drones they had become.

Seeing this, the people from Kiri got even more frustrated. They knew pretty well about the ROOT operatives, having been in their presence since the beginning of the operation. They served no one but Danzo and never deviated from the scope of their mission until it is either completed or they die trying to.

Interrogating them about Danzo's whereabouts held no meaning either, since they were programmed to not reveal anything about him. After all this time as the leader of the Leaf, Danzo's methods were still the same, archaic but efficient nonetheless. It's not like they would have the time to schedule an interrogation session anyway, with what laid in front of them.

**CRUNCH !**

The ship right next the them imploded as a giant tentacle ensnared it, like a constrictor boa would to a prey. From the shadows, a giant black mass of water rose to their side, creating huge waves as the ship threatened to capsize.

… **Growl …**

Appearing from that large shadow and unlike anything they had ever seen, a giant eye opened itself horizontally, much like some species of the reptilian family. The iris was blood red, sending shivers down their spine as it analyzed the people present on board the ship.

"**He's not there, shall I destroy this one as well ?"** The Kraken's voice boomed in the area. They were so scared that they could hear the beat of their heart inside their chest, almost exploding. Was it courage or preservation instinct but one man among the assembled Council members took a step forward.

"W-We surrender, please do not kill us. We will agree to any term you see fit in exchange, Minato Namikaze." The man said, bowing down as his head touched the deck of the ship. Seeing that, all the other representatives mirrored his actions and fell to their knees, imploring the blond to spare their pathetic lives.

"I will ask only once so you better have the answer. Where are Danzo and Sojiro ? I saw them on this ship earlier." Naruto said, not even trying to correct them when they addressed him with his father's name.

"We don't know, I swear ! They disappeared when you unleashed your Katon jutsu against us." The same man who spoke first replied, still in prostration before him just like the other representatives.

That answer, obviously, did not suit Naruto as he lifted a hand toward them, allowing the Kraken to proceed. The blond was not himself at the moment, he wasn't thinking rationally and perceived any annoyance to him as threats to be dealt with. He had already dispatched several unarmed opponents on his way and was about to do the same to the men and women before him when another hand rose and stopped his.

"They are telling the truth, I'm having troubles with all those chakra signature around us but I have a lock. Danzo and Sojiro are halfway toward the second fleet. At their current pace, we won't catch up in time before they join with the Southern Empire's reinforcements." Galatea said, as she stood next to him, doing her best to restrain his arm but failing to do so as his strength greatly outclassed hers.

"So … I don't need any of them anymore then." Naruto growled as he escaped from his wife's arm and leaped toward the remains of the Kiri flagship. The few black ops members who stayed behind to cover for their master's deception stood in his way. Unfortunately for them, in his berserker-like state, Naruto didn't hold back at all and literally tore through them, leaving a pile of charred bodies in his wake.

"Not enough … I still have to punish them ..." He said like a man possessed, slowly making his way toward the representatives of Kiri High Council. His hand were bloodied by the 'fight' he had with the Konoha bodyguards and his eyes leaked killing intent that froze his preys where they stood. He was only a few feet away from them now and started to gather chakra to his limbs, ready to pounce on them like the predator he was.

"**Uzumaki Hijutsu : Shishio Fuin !"** Four voices yelled at the same time, as Galatea, Miria, Miya and Kazehana appeared around him. Each of his wives had the palm of their right hand extended in his direction and red tendrils of chakra were connecting them to him.

The effect was immediate, as Naruto fell to his knees and his chakra output started to lower itself. It took a minute or two but he soon regained his composure with his chakra level stabilized. Breathing heavily, he slowly stood up and looked around, slightly lost and wondering what had happened. All around him and slightly winded too, his wives smiled as they managed to pull him back from losing himself to anger.

"Did I lose control again ? Was is the Shishio Fuin that you just used and what are you doing here?" He asked, looking at Kazehana and Miria who were supposed to go back and informed Hiruzen on the new developments. It seems like his memories were a bit foggy after calling the Kraken, flashes of what happened came to him but he had some troubles to process them.

"We managed to get in touch with Stella and Rana, they will relay to Hiruzen-sama. We came back as fast as possible when your chakra started to radiate that killing intent. You still have to train, if those scums managed to get under your skin, Naruto-kun." Kazehana playfully reported while she came closer to her husband to hug him.

"Seeing you lose control, we all decided to try that new seal you were working on and hope for the best. Fortunately that worked, the bond we share does increase the chances of success for a perfect synchronization of our chakra, allowing us to regulate the output should you lose your focus again." Miria added.

"That seal was experimental at best, I can't believe you tried it on the field like that." Naruto replied lowly, worried about the side effects from that jutsu. "Are you experiencing any kind of discomfort from aligning your chakra with mine ?" Naruto knew how toxic that was, for non jinchuriki people.

**BOOM !**

New explosions echoed in the area as Naruto and his wives were conversing, having forgotten that another fleet was on its way. Unlike those from Kiri, those ships from the Southern Empire were all armed with cannons, just like Naruto's.

"Looks like we are right on time, Naruto-kun !" Naruto smiled as he heard the voice of Rana. Stella was there as well, the both of them leading the newly repaired Musashi and Yamato. Tayuya and the Diva were also on board both ships, tending to their several instruments.

"There are at least twenty ships in that fleet from what I could see. Do not forget that they are faster than those from Kiri, they also have a better reach and more accurate weaponry. Tayuya, you are in command of this flagship from Kiri and your friends you join you as well. Lock the councilors up in their quarters and place yourself behind us, you will provide cover fire since this ship's weapons are not accurate enough to challenge the enemy." Naruto started the new battle plan.

"You girls will board the Musashi and Yamato. Our ships still have better specs, you will take them out one by one but remember to keep a safe distance and do not let them flank you. I will remain on the Kraken for the time being and assist each of you depending on the situation." He finished giving out instructions to his wives.

* * *

**With Danzo**

* * *

The Godaime sighed as he boarded yet another flagship, this time belonging to a fleet of foreigners from outside the Elemental Nations. At first sight and much like Sojiro's, their appearances did not really differ from the people of this continent. He supposed the world was really much bigger than what he had always imagined it was.

"Officer on deck !" Shouted a man as Sojiro took a step forward. The entire crew of that ship stood in attention as they saw him. Danzo knew that the man held a position of power in that army, maybe his act of 'good grace' in saving him would play in his favor now. He was already seeing himself at the head of such a fleet defying the entire Elemental Nations.

"At ease, Captain, relay this to the fleet. Assume formation Omega, primary targets are the Galleon Class Yamato and Musashi battleships. Secondary target is the city port right behind them." Sojiro immediately took command as he told Danzo he would.

"What of the beast, Captain Commander ?" The ship's captain asked, obviously the Kraken could be seen from far away and he noted that Sojiro did not mention it in his orders. The soldiers were well aware of Naruto's most powerful summon, for having battled it more than once. The ships' cannons would hurt it more than those from Kiri but that would only slow it at best, not dealing any critical damages.

"Our ships should have be updated with the newest toys from the R&D department as per my orders and with that target into consideration. Have the men use the new type of ammo when facing it, the regular ammunition will be used against the ships and the port. Now go, you have your orders." He replied with authority, noticing Danzo's confused look.

"After having fought and lost too many battles against it, we started to look into ways to subdue the beast. My first fleet was supposedly here to investigate suspicious activities from them in a zone so close from our borders. Our expedition also had the secondary objective to beta test those weapons, should an opportunity present itself." Sojiro started to explain.

"However as you very well know, they somehow knew we were coming and took us by surprise. It is normally impossible for our forces to battle each other like this, without starting a War which no side would come out unscathed. Our current position in a zone between the two territories is what makes it possible, granted that it is greatly frowned upon." He continued before Danzo interrupted.

"What did your people come up with to fight against such an monstrous creature ?" The man asked, obviously not interested in Sojiro's stories or lessons in international politics. No, what got Danzo's attention was the mention of weapons that could defeat a Boss-Class creature like the Kraken. That kind of tactical advantage would prove extremely useful to him against some very annoying shinobi within the Elemental Nations.

"Well, why don't we find out then. I've only read the manuals and never seen them in action before today." Sojiro replied with a smirk, ignoring Danzo's anger at his unspecific answer. That guy did start to get on his nerves, however, as a man of honor he would respect his end of their deal.

* * *

**With Naruto**

* * *

"Damn, they're spreading their lines. I can already see them trying to outflank our three ships while baiting us in the center." The blond analyzed on top of the Kraken. His wives had boarded the two warships while Tayuya took over the former Kiri flagship.

"**Come on, you know my take on their _leader_."** The word 'leader' was laced with venom, as it left the beast's jaws. Ignoring Naruto's warnings the Kraken wanted to charge forward and, in its words, beat the shit out of them.

Seeing no harm in his partner's plan, Naruto thought about it for a few moments before conceding. The girls needed the space he would gain for them by advancing on the enemy and it's not like the opponent could do any damage to him after all.

Having been granted permission from its summoner, the Kraken moved forward. They aimed for the advancing fleet's vanguard, a small group of four ships. Judging from their speed and lack of heavy weaponry, they were most likely scouts.

Once they got into striking range, the Kraken extended its tentacles in an attempt to catch the ships. From the corner of his eyes, Naruto noticed that the crews were abandoning those ships and with an impeccable timing at that. The blond's instincts screamed at him to pull back, sniffing a trap, but the Kraken would not be stopped at this point.

Ignoring a volley of cannonballs that came from both sides, the Wrath of the Sea simply rose its two closest tentacles, moved them in order to shield Naruto from the impact, not fearing one moment for its own skin.

This is when things went to hell and the impossible became possible …

"**What the ..."** The black balls detonated on impact, however unlike all the other times, the Kraken lost the two limbs he lifted in order to cover its sides. It was simply unbelievable, nothing the men could invent had ever pierced its skin.

"**Naruto, what did you do fool ! I can feel my chakra fading away, did your miserable reserves dry up again ?"** It roared at the blond, not able to understand how something like that could have happened.

Ignoring the beast's roars, Naruto replayed the whole scene in his mind. He was the closest when it happened after all. He clearly remembered the cannonballs reaching the tentacles and exploding as they hit their target. A troubling fact was that upon disintegration, they produced some smaller parts which were then spread all over the monster's body.

Being a bit of a scientist himself, Naruto understood too late that they indeed walked right into the enemy's trap. Somehow, they managed to create some kind of ammo with a component that would disrupt the flow of chakra upon detonation. That was the only explanation to what occurred and a reason why the Kraken felt those fluctuation in his chakra afterward while Naruto was entirely in control of his emotions and not driven by anger like he was earlier.

The scouting ships continued to float until they reached Naruto's position. Once again, he realized too late what those ships came for, loaded to the brim on the deck with the same dark cannonballs. The enemy fleet then focused all the cannons on this particular target and in little more than a shot or two, managed to hit it sending large quantities of black powder all around the area.

"_Kairoseki !"_ Naruto screamed in his mind as he finally took a sniff at the mysterious substance. It was a mineral well known to him for its chakra disrupting properties. In fact, Naruto even used it as the ultimate chakra control exercise, having placed a plate made of that same material at the top of his cabin and trying to stick to it upside down was quite a difficult task.

He always found that stone interesting but never experimented much on it since it was so rare. Only found in the deepest part of the oceans, it took tremendous effort and logistics to extract some but, somehow, the Southern Empire managed to secure such a large quantity that it allowed them to use it as part of their ammo in battle like this. This spelled troubles for him if such was the case, chakra was the base of his power.

"**Naruto … I can't ..."** Were the last words the Kraken spoke before it was forcefully dispelled and sent back. Naruto and his followers were now in a very difficult position, still trapped between two armies and having lost their main asset in this battle. All seemed lost at this moment and the girls as well as Hiruzen, who witnessed the whole thing from within the city, were starting to lose hope.

* * *

**With the Southern Fleet**

* * *

"It works, Captain Commander !" Yelled an officer as they all witnessed the Kraken's defeat. Danzo was impressed as well, having finally been explained the mystery behind the Kairoseki Stone. There was no more obstacle in their path toward Nami no Kuni from now on. Sojiro was about to order a change in formation and full scale charge when another officer spoke first.

"New ships detected on starboard !" All eyes turned toward the North and true to his words, another fleet was making its way toward them. Danzo's eyes narrowed at the new arrival, having recognized their banner.

"_What the hell are they doing here ?"_ He mused, ignoring the surrounding confusion and chaos.

"That's not all, look up !" Someone else shouted.

The sky was covered with strange looking nins wearing some kind of winged mechanical devices, allowing them to literally fly in the sky. On their armor and forehead protectors was a symbol that Danzo knew too well, clouds …

The attack started immediately, with the flying nin spreading their forces into two waves. One went toward the city while the second one stayed and started to circle around the Southern Empire's fleet. As soon as they were in position, they started to drop small explosive charges all over the field. The aim was not that great but their numbers made up for the lack of accuracy.

The aerial forces made a path for their fleet to join up with Naruto's. The lone blond still lingered in the center of the ocean while his wives were a little closer to the shores.

* * *

**With Naruto**

* * *

"What took you so long, Raikage-dono ?" Naruto said with a smirk as his newest ally approached him. The blond jumped into the new fleet's flagship and bumped fists with their commander, the Yondaime Raikage himself.

"That's our first sortie with those toys of yours, brat. We came as fast as we could after receiving the distress call." A replied, sporting a smirk of his own. He was escorted by a fleet of smaller ships that were very similar to what Kiri had, in terms of technology.

"I take it you like them, how's the Shinano, does it please you ?" Naruto asked, the Shinano was the name he gave to this specific ship. It had the ability to launch those strange mechanical devices that composed the aerial strike force from Kumo.

"I'll admit they're pretty nice. Come on let's wrap this up, they have nothing on us." A yelled as he dragged Naruto along with him on the sea and water walked toward the enemy's fleet.

* * *

**A/N : **That's it for now. I decided to cut it here, the battle is not over and I had some other ideas that would fit better in a new chapter. That and I'm trying to release a bit earlier than last time where it took me close to three months to update. Now, it's been 'only' less than a month, how lucky you are !

* * *

I know there's still a gap between the chapter where Naruto visits Kumo and how they now have a peaceful alliance. This will be explained next chapter via a mini flashback scene like I often do. I took the liberty to give Naruto's side the planers like devices from the Naruto movie 'Bonds' where sky nins attack Konoha in the same manner.

The Shinano is yet another Japanese Battleship, I found it fitting since, following my researches, it was a carrier type of ship during the War.

Another borrowed concept is the **Kairoseki Stone**, from the **One Piece** universe. Only, instead of negating the devil fruit users' powers, in this universe it will act as a disturbance toward the use of chakra. One of Naruto's enemies owning some kind of a mine for this type of mineral seemed like some good way to keep the powers balanced.

A cookie to the one who guesses correctly about the price the Kraken asks Naruto for summoning him. Not really sure when we'll see the Wrath of the Seas again though, and he won't be in a very happy mood either, seeing how he got his ass kicked in this chapter ...

Finally, I left Naruto with the famous Anger management issue. We will see later why and how he gets to overcome it. Don't judge me too harshly on this one, I did take the liberty to create the Fem. Kyuubi character in this story too, so the rite to access true control over the chakra shall differ a bit from the canon plot.

Please remember to leave reviews, your opinion is really important to me.

* * *

**New Jutsu : **

**Katon : Uzu Sen Ryu Ha**, translates as Fire Release : One Thousand Supreme Dragons from Uzu. A collaboration jutsu between Naruto and the Kraken which mixes the beast's oil and Naruto's fire. As explained and following the name, the visual effect is what looks like one thousand fire dragons falling from the sky on the targeted zone.

**Uzumaki Hijutsu : Shishio Fuin**, translates as Uzumaki Secret Arts, Four Symbols Seal. I'm well aware that the name already exists in the Naruto verse, but in this one, Naruto is the creator of the jutsu. It allows his wives to synchronize their chakra with his, in order to help him when he loses control.


End file.
